F1 teams agree to shorten engine freeze to 5 years

According to our colleagues at Autosport, the F1 teams have agreed to shorten the engine freeze to five years. During the meeting of team bosses and the FIA on Friday, the teams agreed to shorten the ten-year freeze on engine development down to five years, with the governing body to start work on a new engine concept that will be ready for 2013.

The new engine will aim to be more environmentally friendly and more cost-efficient than the 2.4-litre V8 engines that are currently being used in F1.

All in all, it was clear that the 10 year freeze was an unrealistic target for Formula One. With teams being allowed to introduce KERS systems as early as 2009 it would not make any sense to continue with engines that could easily be developed to be more environmentally friendly.

On top of that, many constructors have publicly stated they are not happy with the freeze. At Toyota we picked up from several team members that people are looking for other opportunities and are leaving the company because a lack of challenges.