Horner doubts F1 engine regulations will change until 2023

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner doubts Formula 1 will be able to introduce a new set of engine regulations until 2023 at the earliest despite long-held plans to make changes two years earlier.

F1 has identified 2021 as the year it is keen to introduce a raft of new sporting and technical regulations, as well as overhauling the commercial structure of the sport as part of a push to encourage competition and improve the on-track spectacle.

Some guidelines regarding the planned power unit regulations for 2021 were released in April, but no concrete details have since followed.

F1 technical boss Ross Brawn wrote in the programme for this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix that it may be worth postponing the introduction of the new engine rules “until we can be certain that a major regulation change will bring fish blood into the sport,” referring to new manufacturers.

Red Bull chief Horner supported Brawn’s view, saying that it was not worth rushing the new engine rules only to keep the existing manufacturers in F1 at an added expense.

“I think at the moment our situation is different to where it was two or three months ago,” Horner said.

“Stability is important. There’s no new manufacturers coming in, these regulations are impossible for a new manufacturer, should they come in.

“I think that rather than making a half-hearted change and getting it half right, I think it’s better to take a little bit more time to really consider what is the right engine for Formula 1 moving forward.

“If that needs a bit more time, or a couple more years to achieve that, then that’s the sensible approach.”

Asked how long he thought it would take to plan out, Horner said: “I think at the moment now I can’t see anything changing before the 2023 season, to be honest with you.”

Renault F1 boss Cyril Abiteboul also said that F1 should be careful in trying to do too much at once, with three overhauls - sporting, technical and commercial - all currently being lined up for one year.

“I think what Formula One is trying to do for 2021 is extremely ambitious. It may be required, but it’s extremely ambitious,” Abiteboul said.

“It will be the first time in F1 history I believe that we would at the same time change chassis regulations, engine regulations, Concorde Agreement, governance structure, new budget cap.

“That’s a lot. There might be the risk of trying to embrace too much and not produce and deliver anything.

“Our view would be to try and be a bit more pragmatic and focus on what is the main emergency for Formula 1, and I’m thinking really of the show, of the disparity between the teams, the disparity in the revenue.”