Ecclestone very critical of the 4-cylinder engine

Anxious to adapt as best as possible to environmental constraints, the FIA ​​wants engines that consume less fuel from 2013. The current V8, in the spotlight, will be replaced by a smaller engine, a 4-liter 1,6-cylinder. The objective? Reduce consumption by 35%. “To be honest, we disagree with Jean Todt on this engine, says Bernie Ecclestone. I don?t understand the reasons. SREC was supposed to solve the environmental problem and now we have something else. »

Already very critical on this point, the big financier of the F1 returned to the charge as the first race of the season approached. He fears that F1 will lose its prestige and that the spectacle will suffer. “I’m sure the promoters are going to lose a big audience and I’m convinced we’re going to lose television” he explains to the Australian agency of the Associated Press.

According to Mister E., the new engine will deprive F1 of a factor that is as fundamental as it is decisive in its success: noise. Nothing will replace the V8 sound, especially not the 4 cylinders. “I've met people from different backgrounds around the world – sponsors, promoters and journalists – and I think there are two things that really matter. The first is Ferrari, the second is noise, he confides. People love and are excited by noise. When people attend an F1 race for the first time and you ask them what they liked about it, they say noise.»