Ecclestone wants Mercedes power for entire grid

[F1 Dream Team]

http://www.gptoday.com/full_story/vi...r_entire_grid/

Ecclestone wants Mercedes power for entire grid



Bernie Ecclestone would like to see every car on the grid equipped with a Mercedes engine.

The F1 supremo is increasingly frustrated with the current turbo V6 rules, as Mercedes is dominating and many fans and promoters are unhappy with the milder engine note.

Asked specifically what he wants, Ecclestone told Sport Bild: "The old V8 engines, or the same engine for everybody.

"I would like to sign a contract where every team is supplied with a Mercedes engine."

Curiously, Mercedes team chairman Niki Lauda alluded to this idea earlier in Shanghai, when he told La Gazzetta dello Sport: "If Renault and Honda go, we will give 20 Mercedes engines to everyone and what is the problem?"

But Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff exclaimed: "I don't think Ferrari would take a Mercedes engine!"

To which Ecclestone, 84, retorted: "Leave Ferrari out. They're an exception."

And also curiously, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner doesn't mind the sound of Ecclestone's latest proposal.

"Well, (team title sponsor) Infiniti already works with Mercedes," he said.

Germany's Sport Bild said that during the three-way interview with Wolff and Horner, Ecclestone repeatedly banged his fist on the table in frustration.

Some of that frustration is with the governing FIA.

"The FIA president is in a difficult position," he said, referring to Jean Todt. "He doesn't want to upset anybody. He wants to make everyone happy.

"Unfortunately, that is not easy."

[Red is Best]

I wonder how many more years we are going to have to put up with this guy... The day he is gone will be a great day for Formula 1.

[ManFromMilan]

Biggest problem is that if all the engines are not completely the same( except for what Ferrari will build themselves ) with equal power and software from Mercedes, then it will just be a farce and all the teams will need to take Merc on with one hand tied behind their backs so to speak.

Too much wheeling and dealings going on behind the scenes, that are in design, just to improve a handfuls position and not everyone in F1.

[wisepie]

Bernie has completely lost the plot, first he spends years building F1 into what it is today from the commercial point of view, now he's suggesting a whole grid of Merc-powered cars, it might just as well be Formula Ford at a fraction of the cost. F1 would be dead, and at this rate, so will Mr Ecclestone.

[Hornet]

I think it's against the core spirit of F1 where half of it is about building a winning car which include engine. But these days there are more teams who buy someone else engine, rather than building their own. Only Ferrari and Merc do that in fact. So, it would not surprise me if quite a number of teams will actually be ok with this, because as it stands right now, these teams are already a customer anyway, and they may be indifferent to whose engine they use.

I'm against it just to clarify But I think it may be possible for many of the current teams to actually be ok with it for the reason I mention, especially if Renault pulls out. That would probably leave only Ferrari and McLaren being against that idea.

[Ed Harley]

He is past his best before date.

[REDARMYSOJA]

Something like this has happened before. In the '70's, nearly everyone, except Ferrari of course and one or two other teams, were running a Cosworth.

[fratelliferrari]

Bernie is getting crazier every minute

[Black Adder]

I am sure Honda likes to hear this after all that investment.

[aroutis]

Not crazy; Desperate.

They made a mess by giving in to Mercedes demands, now with RBR threatening to leave (lots of money there) they're trying to find a solution, but of course Ferrari would wreak havoc if there was a one engine manufacturer rule as this goes against everything they stand for (hens the whole "leave them out of this, they're an exception!" thing). Of course RBR would love to have Mercedes , that's a no brainer but then I doubt we should/would like to be in a position where Mercedes would supply most of the teams for obvious reasons, and then, there's also Honda; where does that leave Honda exactly?

This is a f*ckup of gigantic proportions in my honest opinion.

[Tifoso]

They are winning fair and square

[Tobes]

Bernie would try to get £10k when only needs £5k, that's just the way he operates, Mercedes will never supply PU's to all the teams, half of them couldn't afford the Merc PU anyway, but I don't see a real problem if the smaller teams want to use old V8's if it means they can save £millions, they will still perform at a similar pace, but will just cost significantly less than what they're paying for the stupidly complicated PU's they're forced to use now...

[AfterLife]

As far as I know new technologies get cheaper as they become more common and I read somewhere that these power units will get cheaper for customers. Even operation costs will get cheaper.
Personally IMO it is unlikely especially because these power units are in their evolution period.

[Warp]

Switch back to v8 and everyone's happy, except Mercedes. What v6 has brought to the sport? Drop of audience, bad sound, dominance of Mercedes in a big margin.

[Nero Horse]

Best not to take any of Bernie's words too seriously. The older he gets, the crazier his suggestions and comments become. I trust that there are people in F1 who have the common sense and the power to not let Bernie carry out his plans. The only suggestion from Bernie that I like and support is to someday go back to using naturally aspirated V8's, that is all.

[racingbradley]

Formula 1 or Formula Mercedes? what does Bernie want?
Ferrari would have to pull out.
Silly silly man.

[Tony]

I'm sure Ferrari is happy to hear that they would no longer be able to supply teams their engine and derive revenue from it...

I'm sure both Renault and Honda are super excited about these comments also....

[paneristi]

Niki and Toto are very close to the top guys and play politics a lot, hence they developed the turbo engine far before everyone else. Add Bernie the hungry monster, and together they ruin F1

[Giallo 550]

The day all cars have Mercedes engines is the day I stop watching.

[Hornet]

I highly doubt that we would see a rule that makes it mandatory for all participating teams to use Merc PU only.

Perhaps a possible scenario is to remove the limits of how many teams someone can supply.

[Sriharsha]

Instead of doing all this nasty rules why can't they just change the rule to allow Engine manufacturers to work on their machines for certain period of time and then say ok guys time up and do racing with what you have.

[PURE PASSION]

But now they are not dominating like last year.Especially in the engines we are quite there and who knows what happens with the upgrades in follow races!!!!Just watch Suber!!
So where's the problem Mr Ecclestone??????

[Warp]

Instead of doing all this nasty rules why can't they just change the rule to allow Engine manufacturers to work on their machines for certain period of time and then say ok guys time up and do racing with what you have.

Because Mercedes will not agree with that and threaten they'll quit f1...

[stefa]

Old man has lost it....

[Alonso14]

Looks like someone forgot his pills.

Ferrari engine is love. Ferrari engine is life.

[shamim179]

Think Bernie is just saying this to push Renault and Honda to do better.

[mkable1370]

So, Bernie says give everyone a Mercedes engine except maybe Ferrari? Total nonsense! Though even if it happened, it wouldn't change the standings at the top of the grid anyway...
Williams, Force India, and Lotus already have the Mercedes PU and aren't even close to competitive with the factory team. Even with a full year of development to learn the PU and
design around it they aren't even close.

[F1 Dream Team]

So, Bernie says give everyone a Mercedes engine except maybe Ferrari? Total nonsense! Though even if it happened, it wouldn't change the standings at the top of the grid anyway...
Williams, Force India, and Lotus already have the Mercedes PU and aren't even close to competitive with the factory team. Even with a full year of development to learn the PU and
design around it they aren't even close.

Mercedes helped Williams
Mercedes is manipulating the balance of power among its customer teams, according to a Spanish media report.

El Pais newspaper said Williams, Lotus and Force India each pay around EUR 25 million per season for the German marque’s F1-leading turbo V6 ‘power unit’.

But the report said not everything is equal.

That is despite both Williams and Mercedes denying Felipe Massa’s claim recently that the Grove team might not be fully up-to-date with the latest engine developments of the works team.

El Pais claimed: “The Williams of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas are usually one step below (the works team), and then (the situation) is different still for Lotus and Force India”.

The report said that, in China, Williams suddenly took a step forward in the power stakes — perhaps in a bid to give the works team a buffer between it and the chasing Ferraris.

El Pais wonders why customers do not then complain about Mercedes’ manipulations.

“Because of clauses in the contracts,” a source is quoted as explaining. (GMM)

[Liscia]

Formula One would then finally end up becoming Formula G - as in Garagisti.

[Wildcat]

For how long will we have to hear about the old man's antics ?