Cosworth wins FIA engine tender
12/05/08 The one-size-fits-all engine would cost teams around £5m a year, a 10th of the current cost of developing a power train themselves. Teams, however, will have the option of building their own engines to an identical specification if they wish.
Teams have until next Thursday to agree to Mosley's engine proposal.
'The teams have been wasting money,' said Mosley. 'It cannot go on. If it does, I expect one or two other teams to leave the sport. We must show that we are determined to cut costs to £30m or £40m.'
 |
| Cosworth owners Gerald Forsythe (L) and Kevin Kalkhoven (R). Kalkhoven told AR1.com on Wednesday to watch the F1 news front for some interesting announcements later this week. Now we know what he meant. |
12/05/08 Cosworth has won the tender to supply a low-cost engine and transmission package in 2010 and beyond, formula one's governing body announced on Friday.
In the wake of Honda's shock departure from the sport, the FIA said in a statement that the news confirmed its fears about the current financial format, and sent a letter to team bosses.
It is revealed that the cost to teams wanting to use the un-badged Cosworth engine option will be $2m euros, plus 5.5 million euros each season.
"The engine will be a current Formula One engine while the transmission will be state-of-the-art Formula One and a joint effort by two companies which already supply transmissions to most of the grid," said Mosley.
"The cost to each team taking up this option will be an up-front payment of £1.68M (€1.97M) and then £5.49M (€6.42M) per season for each of the three years of the supply contract (2010, 2011, 2012). This price is based on four teams signing up and includes full technical support at all races and official tests, plus 30,000 km of testing.
"The annual cost will reduce if more teams take up the option, for example to £4.99M (€5.84M) per team with eight teams. It will further reduce if less than 30,000 km of testing is required. Neither engine nor transmission will be badged."
Teams not wanting to use the standard engine have "the right to build an engine themselves", or a de-tuned version of their current 2.4 liter V8s, but must use a standard transmission supplied by Ricardo Transmissions, a British company. Other engines will not be allowed to have better performance than the standard engine.
Mosley said the measures will help small teams survive, and also pave the way for the replacement of more outgoing manufacturers, "as seems likely" to be necessary.
He wants four teams to sign up the scheme by next Thursday, or the price may go up.