Red Bull Wants Equal F1 Engines in 2011

Although there were several discussions about engine equalization inside Formula One, the International Automobile Federation (FIA) never really checked the engine manufacturers to see how they stand on performance, when compared to each other. All we know it that the engine freeze stopped them from further developing their powerplants and that Renault were allowed to slightly modify their units at the beginning of last season.

Following last season's incredible run from Brawn GP, it was pretty clear that Mercedes-Benz were providing the best engines in terms of both performance and reliability from the entire F1 field. So Red Bull tried to switch from Renault to Mercedes for the 2011 season, but were hit by the refusal of the German company.

Being that the Austrian team has remained stuck with the French engine maker for the 2011 season also, team principal Christian Horner vowed one more time to try and get the FIA to ensure engine equalization in F1. The British manager insisted that, although benefiting from a slightly improved weight distribution, drivability and cooling efficiency, the Renault engines are bottom line less performing than Mercedes' with approximately 35bhp.

“I think if you look at basic studies you would say we are about three per cent down on power – which is probably about 30-35bhp. That is as much as four tenths per lap, but until you run all the engines in the same conditions on a dyno and do a fair and proper comparison you can never be sure,” said Horner, as reported by Autosport.

“You often hear Ross Brawn talk about weight distribution, or the centre-of-gravity and cooling efficiency so on, and the more power you have the more heat you generate. But you need to look at all the aspects in a collective format. The most important thing moving forward is that chassis will for sure converge, as there is freedom within the regulations, and that is where the engines will become a bigger factor.”

“Through the regulations, there is nothing that specifically deals with engine equality, and that is the problem. I think it is acknowledged that there are differences and there is a format that was agreed last winter to evaluate the engines, which was agreed upon by all the manufacturers, but some of the teams stopped that from happening. We are back in to that situation,” added Horner, who insisted that he would let go all the slight advantages of using a less performing powerplant in exchange of horsepower.

“I think horsepower is such an over-riding element that that would come at the top - you would trade any of those aspects for horsepower. In terms of fuel consumption, when you have less horsepower you burn less fuel as you generate less temperature. But if you take more horsepower and you run conservatively, you can end up at the same point, but you've got it for when you need it. It is a key element, absolutely.”