The four-cylinder had been approved to attract Audi in 2013
The last six months have been marked by the controversy surrounding the engine regulations that were supposed to take effect from 2013. According to Adrian Newey, the chief engineer of Red Bull Racing, the four-cylinder was only intended to attract Audi. When the Ingolstadt manufacturer withdrew from discussions, the return to the V6 was almost immediate.
The first decision of the technical group around the engines was the four-cylinder turbo engine, which was to be introduced in 2013. The main force behind this decision was Audi. They said they would join the sport if there was a four-cylinder turbo. So everyone agreed in order to bring Audi in. They ultimately decided not to get involved, thanks a lot, and we found ourselves stuck with the four-cylinder turbo, says the technical director of the world champion team to ESPN.
It is interesting to note that this revelation comes from one of the Red Bull officials. Indeed, until the agreement made at the beginning of the season with Infiniti, the company cars used by the team members during the Grand Prix were none other than cars with the rings. It can be thought that the Austrian team was pushing to bring Audi in as an engine supplier since their contract with Renault was only extended for the 2011 and 2012 seasons, which left the door open for a change of engine supplier during the technical revolution of F1 2013.
As the main party involved was ultimately not that interested, teams and engine manufacturers quickly sought other solutions to meet the call for a more eco-friendly Formula One. The V6 solution was then favored, as it is a much more suitable technical solution for engineers. « From an engineering perspective, the turbo four-cylinder is not an attractive engine to install. You need to leave space around it, and you can’t fully integrate it. A racing V6 is much easier to implement. It will be the engine starting from 2014, » explains Newey.
It remains to be seen what the final number of revolutions per minute will be, as circuits have expressed opposition to the idea of an engine limited to 12,000 revolutions per minute due to the lack of noise it would create. While Ron Walker, the president of the Australian Grand Prix, has stated he wants the current 18,000 revolutions per minute to be maintained, Adrian Newey does not seem to indicate that the status quo will be maintained. The revolutions per minute are still under discussion, but it seems it will likely be between 14,000 and 16,000 revolutions per minute.
With the participation of RacingBusiness.fr
