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FIA begins search for cheaper standard F1 engine supplier

Published 11/13/2015, 11:48 AM EST

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SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Formula One’s governing body has started a process to try to secure a cheaper alternative engine supplier to the main manufacturers from 2017.

The International Automobile Federation (FIA) said in a statement on Friday that it was seeking expressions of interest by 1700 French time on Nov. 23 in what would be a three-year contract.

“The candidates whose expression of interest meets the requirements…may be entitled to participate in a tendering procedure the aim of which would be to identify an exclusive supplier of the alternative engines to the competitors,” it said.

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Among the criteria set for any interested candidate was that they must be “entirely independent of a major car manufacturer.”

An eventual tender would aim to help struggling smaller teams secure a cheaper power unit, whose technical specifications were available from the FIA to interested parties, than that currently available.

Formula One has four engine manufacturers at present — Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault and Honda — with 11 teams scheduled to compete next season.

A customer supply of the 1.6 litre V6 turbo hybrid engines can cost up to $30 million whereas FIA president Jean Todt has said 12 million euros ($12.89 million) would be an acceptable amount to avoid the need for a standard alternative.

“If we cannot come to this solution we need to have another solution,” he told reporters in Mexico last month after Ferrari had vetoed a proposed cost cap.

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“Otherwise the risk is of teams going bankrupt.”

The Frenchman has said the alternative, standard, option would aim for a price tag of six to seven million euros.

The alternative engine proposal has still to be presented to the FIA’s Formula One commission and World Motor Sport Council for approval but the first step towards a tender could be seen as a measure of the governing body’s determination to act.

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($1 = 0.9313 euros)

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Ed Osmond)

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Dhruv George

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Dhruv George is a senior Formula One and NASCAR analyst for EssentiallySports, having authored nearly 12000 articles spanning different sports like F1, NASCAR, Tennis, NFL, and eSports. He graduated with a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications. Dhruv has also conducted interviews with F1 driver Pierre Gasly and Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino.
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