FIA confirm Cosworth engine supply
* Friday, 5 December 2008

In a letter sent to F1 Constructors Max Mosley outlines new engine regulations.

After much sabre rattling from both teams and the FIA, it was announced today that an exclusive agreement has been reached with Cosworth, Ricardo and Xtrac to supply a standard power-train in F1 from 2010 onwards.

The engine ia to be a development of the Cosworth CA, 2.4l V8 engine developed by the famous Northamptonshire company and raced by Williams in 2006. In race specification (opposed to qualifiying trim) it produced in the region of 750bhp, so would be well matched with existing power units.

Max Mosley also stated that teams would not be forced to use the engine, with the option of either producing their own version or retaining their existing units, provided there was parity in performance.

All teams however will be required to use the standard 'XR' transmission.


Extract from Max Mosley's letter to teams;
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.

As suggested in my letter of 18 November, teams participating in the 2010 Championship would then have three options:

: the above;

: the right to build an engine themselves, identical to the above, having been supplied with all the necessary technical information;

: the right to continue to use their existing engine, with the current ban on development and requirement for engine parity still in place (noting that the engine supplied will become the reference engine for output and other performance indicators and no engine will be permitted to exceed those indicators).

Teams opting for one of the latter two options would nevertheless use the XR transmission.



The key aim of the FIA is to massively reduce running costs in F1 to try and guide the sport succesfully through the current financial difficulties. This would hopefully create a stable basis on which the sport could build once the global economic situation improves.

This could ultimately lead to more radical regulations, including the possibility of a totally new power unit by 2013.

Max Mosley states that that the cost calculations for the spec engine are based on at least four teams signing up to the deal and Racecar believes he is close to having this number secured.

Further extract from Max Mosley's letter.

In combination with the program of cost reductions for the chassis, race weekend and team home base outlined in my letter of 18 November, these arrangements have a number of advantages. These include:

: Enabling the independent teams to survive in the current difficult economic climate;

: Facilitating the replacement of a manufacturer team if (as seems likely) we suffer additional
losses;

: Establishing Formula One while new road-relevant technologies are introduced together with
a state-of-the-art high tech engine, which could be in Formula One as early as 2013
should the car industry by then be in a position to fund its development;

: Avoiding any change to the Formula One spectacle and keeping the technology at current
levels.

These arrangements are on the basis that at least four teams enter into contracts to use the
power train described above, and do so no later than close of business (5pm CET) on Thursday
11 December 2008. In the event of fewer than four teams signing up, the FIA may still proceed but the price on offer will vary. The supply contracts will be with Cosworth but in the first instance teams are requested to make their intentions known to my office.