09/02/2017
NEWS STORY
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.