Breaking news
Formula 1
Mercedes close to agreeing engine 'unfreeze'
Talks over a touted engine 'unfreeze' for the 2015 season appear to have taken a dramatic turn.
GMM
Edited: Nov 4, 2014, 9:05 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
On Monday, media reports in Italy suggested Ferrari, Red Bull and Renault may have pulled off a political masterstroke over the US GP weekend by convincing F1's dominant force Mercedes to agree to the relaxing of the engine homologation rules.
That is despite Mercedes chiefs Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda respectively describing the proposals as "nonsense" and "irrational", as it drives up costs and unfairly attacks the German squad for performing best under the new rules.
Mercedes have accepted that they need to provide a window of opportunity to the others to introduce competition.
Christian Horner
But now Italy's La Repubblica is also reporting that Mercedes "has agreed to a compromise" over the engine freeze, which currently dictates that manufacturers may modify 48 per cent of the engine but have it re-frozen before the start of the 2015 season.
"Finally," read the report, "thanks to pressure from (Bernie) Ecclestone and the FIA, the Germans gave in."
La Repubblica cautioned that the compromise, while agreed by the Brackley team, will now have to be approved by Mercedes' paymasters in Stuttgart.
Ferrari boss Marco Mattiacci said: "At the meeting on Saturday, Mercedes said it was willing to compromise.
"But I do not feel like saying the matter is closed now, because Mercedes had already declared its willingness before and then changed its mind."
However, Mattiacci thanked Mercedes chairman Niki Lauda for at least "putting everyone around a table to discuss" the issue.
Other reports suggest the 'unfreeze' will now mean that manufacturers' 2015 designs will not be locked in until July next year.
Christian Horner, the boss of Renault's works team Red Bull, confirmed: "Mercedes have accepted that they need to provide a window of opportunity to the others to introduce competition.
"They participated in a discussion, so they haven't actually agreed to anything as yet, but there was a very constructive discussion which hopefully will see a solution in place in the very near future," he added.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Rosberg 'not thinking about' title defeat
Next article Haas could keep Sutil's F1 dream alive
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
GMM
Jules Bianchi's father speaks of family's continued hopes
Formula 1
Formula 1 Apr 13, 2015
Jules Bianchi's father speaks of family's continued hopes
Sauber under no illusions about constructors' position
Formula 1
Formula 1
Chinese GP
Apr 13, 2015
Sauber under no illusions about constructors' position
Pirelli chief calls for radical F1 overhaul
Formula 1
Formula 1 Apr 5, 2015
Pirelli chief calls for radical F1 overhaul
More from
Niki Lauda
Who belongs on F1's Mount Rushmore? Pick your four greatest drivers
Formula 1
Formula 1 2 mo
Who belongs on F1's Mount Rushmore? Pick your four greatest drivers
Niki Lauda's championship-winning Ferrari 312T returns in Austria as son takes wheel
Formula 1
Formula 1
Austrian GP
4 mo
Niki Lauda's championship-winning Ferrari 312T returns in Austria as son takes wheel
Mercedes welcome Niki Lauda's family at F1 Austrian GP: "A legacy that lives on"
Formula 1
Formula 1
Austrian GP
4 mo
Mercedes welcome Niki Lauda's family at F1 Austrian GP: "A legacy that lives on"
More from
Ferrari
Max Verstappen on Ferrari clashes: "I would never sign two number-one drivers"
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
1 d
Max Verstappen on Ferrari clashes: "I would never sign two number-one drivers"
Latest news
TV ratings released for NASCAR Cup season finale
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
1 h
TV ratings released for NASCAR Cup season finale
Chase Elliott's car chief leaves Hendrick for NASCAR Truck crew chief role
NASCAR Truck
NSTR NASCAR Truck
Homestead
1 h
Chase Elliott's car chief leaves Hendrick for NASCAR Truck crew chief role
“I was getting beat up” – How Daniel Ricciardo burned out on ‘humiliating’ F1 return
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 6 h
“I was getting beat up” – How Daniel Ricciardo burned out on ‘humiliating’ F1 return
Feature
Discover prime content
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Formula 1
By Kevin Turner
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe