Customer and works engines must be identical from 2016, says FIA

The FIA have confirmed that engine manufacturers must supply customer teams with identical engines to those in their works cars from next year.

Article 23.5 of the Sporting Regulations for next year reads: “Only power units which are identical to the power unit that has been homologated by the FIA in accordance with Appendix 4 of these regulations may be used at an Event during the 2016-2020 Championship seasons.”

This means we will no longer see situations such as those at Manor, who are using a 2014 Ferrari engine this year. It also means that, if an engine deal is done, Ferrari would have to supply Red Bull with a 2016 engine, which they previously said would not be possible in the short amount of time before winter testing.

It will appease Red Bull who have said they will accept nothing but a 2016 engine, making their stay in Formula One more likely after threatening to quit if they did not find themselves with a competitive engine.

However, the regulation only refers to hardware, and will not prevent the manufacturer teams using certain software settings that allow them to extract more from the engine. Before they introduced their new-spec engine at Monza, this is what Mercedes had been doing with their customer teams.

Tomorrow there will be a meeting between the four engine manufacturers and the FIA, so it is possible that there could be further rule changes if there is unanimous agreement from the teams.

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