At this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix, Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto said the Scuderia is now ready to support an engine freeze from the end of next season, but added that a mechanism for engine performance convergence should also be considered.
This mechanism would essentially help power unit suppliers who have a large performance gap to their rivals, like Ferrari, close the gap and become more competitive.
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Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff was quick to hit out at this suggestion, saying it would mark the “the beginning of the end” of Formula One.
“I think this would be the beginning of the end [for Formula One],” Wolff said at Sakhir.
“The power unit is not only measured by sheer max power, but it is subject to drivability, to weight, to cooling, so introducing a simple formula that fits all isn’t possible and is not something Mercedes will endorse,” he added.
Continuing, the Austrian said such a convergence mechanism would be a public “humiliation” to teams like Ferrari.
“We had a token system in the past when the regulations came out, and because some of our colleagues wished the tokens to be removed in order to catch up, we agreed to a removal of the tokens.
“Now some of our colleagues come back with a system of convergence, which honestly said, it is bit of an insult.
“When you look at the last few years, and the development of performances in the engine, Ferrari was clearly the most powerful engine in 2018, and by far the best in 2019.
“And we developed our engine, we continued to push the boundaries, and we brought something to the track in 2020 that we were hoping would catch up.
“That’s why I cannot comprehend that any car manufacturer that trusts in his abilities to develop a power unit and a chassis would want some kind of mechanism that would balance the power units out.
“I don’t think anybody would accept such a humiliation in public,” Wolff concluded.
The Ferrari power unit is currently the weakest in Formula One, and all Ferrari-powered teams, including the works team, have struggled at most circuits this season, particularly at power-hungry tracks like Monza and Spa-Francorchamps.
They can’t make in-season improvements this year due to a freeze on engine development, but they will have a new power unit in 2021.
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