Well for example don't Mercedes have a rule which limits the amount of engines a customer team can use over a season? That is a massive impediment on a team like McLaren chasing a title.
I can't find anything about that I mean how would you even come to an agreement on a number anyway given you have no idea what might happen in regards to how many engines you will need during the season. All I could find was just the usual application of penalties if you use more than 3.
Toto even said it was good supplying customers overall more pros than cons even if there was a risk a team like McLaren could challenge Merc as he stated. Obviously his statement below he means 2022 not 2021 as this article was written in 2019 before it got pushed back.
"Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff acknowledges there is a "risk" in supplying engines to McLaren from 2021 because it has the potential to rival his own team."
Wolff said: "A new era is going to start in 2021 with compressed grids, with more competition, and we believe that from a PU side there is more learning for us in this exercise, with more competitive customers adding to the two [Racing Point and Williams] that we have.
"And we rate McLaren strongly. The steps that Zak [Brown, McLaren F1 CEO] and Andreas [Seidl, McLaren team principal] have initiated certainly look very promising.
"The advantages outweigh the potential deficits of fighting a hard competitor like McLaren in the future."
https://www.motorspo...l-risk/4554587/
I don’t know. It was obvious to me that something screwy happened with the distribution of Mercedes power units this year. It was clear that the factory got prioritized. There’s some comments on it from the Alpine boss. They definitely drew the short stick. I think Mclaren are going switch to VAG anyways. So it won’t be long for them to be able to have themselves prioritized.
It’s not just about having the same spec as Mercedes. It about being able to design the packaging, the entire shape of the power unit and it’s cooling requirement to suit your car optimally. As it is, that PU is designed for a Merc aero package.
I heard that engines and parts are put into a pool and the dealt out to the various customers fairly to stop the monopoly by the suppliers choosing what they thought had the slightly better tolerance levels etc. Also remember McLaren were handicapped with the silly token rules this year too in regards to fitting the PU. Next year they are not hindered by that.
Edited by gowebber, 15 December 2021 - 13:36.