In the interests of fairness, levelling the playing field for the sake of the teams and the fans, Toro Rosso boss Franz Tost believes that Mercedes should be prevented from further developing its engine in order that its rivals can catch up.

Fact is, with Mercedes having won all but eight of the fifty-nine races held under the new formula introduced in 2014, certain aspects, including the minimum weight of the MGU-H and MGU-K and various component dimensions, have already been 'frozen' to ensure they cannot be developed, with further restrictions scheduled for next year including re-setting the minimum weight of the engine recovery system.

However, for Toro Rosso boss Franz Tost, whose team switches to Renault power units this year after a season running the 2015 Ferrari unit, this is not enough. He believes that Mercedes should be prevented from developing its power unit any further, thereby allowing Renault and Ferrari to close the gap.

"I hope that sooner or later there will be power unit parity because this is not the case currently," he told Autosport. "I hope Renault will catch up, especially because I don't know what's going on with Ferrari. We need Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari fighting for the championship at least.

"If the power unit parity is not coming normally the FIA should come up with a regulation to freeze it," he insisted. "I would freeze the power unit from Mercedes, the others should catch up and then they freeze all of them.

"I would leave the development of the battery free because the battery is something for the future and it is also something important for the manufacturers."

Of course, the Austrian's comments will in no way whatsoever have been influenced by anyone at sister team Red Bull or further up the chain of command, Mercedes having famously snubbed the Austrian outfit in 2015 when Renault proved not to be up to the task and suffered a nightmare year.

Indeed, with Mercedes and Ferrari refusing to supply Red Bull and Toro Rosso with its works-spec engines the Austrian company threatened to walk away from the sport, subsequently claiming that it was only joking.

Sadly, nobody let the FIA or Bernie Ecclestone in on the joke, the pair exploring all manner of options - some more fanciful than others - in their endeavours to find an acceptable engine deal for the two teams before Red Bull finally capitulated and stuck with Renault - though rebadging it as a watch - and then going on to win a couple of races and leapfrog Ferrari in the standings.

Indeed, had Mercedes capitulated and provided Red Bull with its engines one wonders the Milton Keyes outfit, or its Faenza-based sister team, would still be calling for the development freeze.

Admit it, if it wasn't so pathetic you'd laugh.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Spindoctor, 10/02/2017 8:09

"I don't see the problem here. I submitted my "solution" last season, and its a lot easier to implement & police than this kind of "dumbing-down.

So to reiterate:
If a Mercedes is in the lead and\or they're running 1st & 2nd, they must pit and the drivers change into clown-suits (not forgetting the giant shoes).

In all modesty - Problem solved!

"

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2. Posted by raven49, 10/02/2017 2:00

"Well, the earlier comments seem to have covered the important point. What does Franz think they have participated in? What he wants is a single engine provider. That is the "only" way there will be engine (power unit) parity. Perhaps, he would also want standard chassis and wing designs. That leaves the driver and nothing else. If that happens, I've watched my last F1 race at 74. F1 is a team sport. The driver is usually the face of the team although you can recognize people like Newey, Brawn and others as it should be. There are stories that add to the interest - Alonso running in back, although beating his teammate, while Honda fixes their power unit. You see the race strategies, both good and bad, change as the race goes on and some of the strategies are awful from the get go. Ferrari has made some big ones. If you want to go spec racing, find the right series for you. Fans, at least me, want to see different engineering approaches, different driver approaches and different team performance.
Consider NASCAR which has pretty much perfected spec racing. There is still immense interest among its fans but F1 is F1 and there is no compelling reason to change other than to put money into the pockets of those who are already doing quite well. Franz is just not happy with being a loser - change the rules to give him a better chance. Right!!"

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3. Posted by f1khun, 10/02/2017 1:57

"If Tost would not be saying things which benefits his team, he'd be a bad boss. Anything to get his team in a better position is good, and as boss he has to try to achieve that by all means possible.
And bad sportsmanship? Virtually every (top) team in F1 will cheat if they get the chance. A couple of decennia ago, we would call this "development" as it was unregulated. Now its called cheating because (if) its regulated. But fact is, each team must do what it can to get better compared to the competition and slowing down a faster car is simply part of business.
Moving on, nothing to see here. "

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4. Posted by RomeoPapaKilo, 09/02/2017 17:46

"Pathetic!"

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5. Posted by Peter Rickitt, 09/02/2017 16:57

"No need to wonder - Mateshit is just a bad sportsman: the sooner Red Bull sell their teams and get out of F1, the better - a competitive attitude is fine, but his and Horner's rampant hypocrisy (let alone their gutlessness in getting the junior team to proselytise their view) is not.
Just go and take your tawdry values with you - or is it, perhaps, that you have seen Max Noble's 'writing on the wall' and see a financial advantage to be gained by 'cuffing' a real car manufacturer, who, like all motor engineering firms in F1, is investing something far more valuable than their finances, namely their motor industry reputation and the livelihoods of the thousands that rely on that, at risk: a considerably higher investment than some scrubby soft-drinks-maker.
Go - and go now. "

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6. Posted by edllorca, 09/02/2017 15:40

"Should Newey be banned then? What about Alonso, he gets more out of a car than anyone else should we ban him?

Hey Franz, If you are that dumb please step down."

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7. Posted by mickl, 09/02/2017 14:12

"So does everyone with a bigger penis that Tost has to have the extra length amputated?"

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8. Posted by Hobgoblin, 09/02/2017 14:06

"Is it April 1st already? - or do they have a different day for it in Italy?"

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9. Posted by Ro, 09/02/2017 14:03

"What??? Tost should go home and have a coffee and a croissant! If the Renault engine is not as good as the Merc engine its up to Renault to make theirs better. F1 is becoming a joke."

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Tost calls for Mercedes engine development freeze

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