Bernie Ecclestone – who has long been against the new V6 turbo hybrid power units in Formula 1 – would like to see the sport revert to the ‘old’, normally aspirated V8s.
Last winter, Ecclestone said he’d like to see F1 cars of the future powered by 1000bhp engines. The original suggestion was to boost the power of the current 1.6-litre V6 to 1000bhp by increasing their fuel flow. Now today, the F1 supremo told Gazzetta dello Sport that he will push to see the reintroduction of the normally aspirated 2.4-litre V8s.
"We need to go back to engines whose costs are more reasonable, and we need to intervene with maximum urgency," Ecclestone told the Italian sports daily. “Going back to a Formula 1 with naturally aspirated engines and KERS, while setting precise constraints, would drastically reduce costs and would be convenient for those already in F1 and for those would like to enter it. "We'd just need to take the old V8 engines and modify them by increasing displacement to bring power output near 1000bhp. People would return, the show would return, sponsors would return,” the billionaire added. Ecclestone claims that the move to turbo hybrid engines has contributed to the decline in audiences by creating fan disinterest. "Formula 1 isn't just technology, but enjoyment too," Ecclestone added. "We need to think about who buys a ticket, goes in the grandstands and wants to see a great sporting spectacle. (…) If TV audiences shrink and the public at Grands Prix do too, then it becomes a problem,” Ecclestone admitted.
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