Ecclestone working with Ferrari to lift engine freeze?

Bernie maneuvering behind the scenes to make sure Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel are competitive in the coming years? No way!

In Tuesday’s Latest F1 news in brief on AR1’s Hot News page you’ll see that Mercedes is apparently considering a proposal to lift the much-discussed engine freeze in Formula One. Thus far, Mercedes, who clearly have the dominant power-unit in Formula One, have shown little willingness to be flexible.

However, according to Ferrari boss Marco Mattiacci there was discussion of the matter this past weekend in Austin. Mattiacci noted that three-time World Champion and Mercedes chairman Niki Lauda has shown some flexibility on the matter. The report also noted that F1 commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone played a role in getting Mercedes to possibly budge.

Now, it should be noted that the report came from an Italian newspaper. And there was no confirmation of any discussions from Lauda or Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff.

But with the current economic crisis in F1, worldwide TV ratings on the decline, and teams threatening boycott, Ecclestone cannot be too pleased with the prospect of Ferrari being dog slow for two more seasons.

Of course, complicating matters is the financial crisis in F1. And the engine-freeze currently in place was enacted in large part to contain costs. So, theoretically lifting the engine-freeze would result in greater resources allocated to research and development.

Yes, these are very unique times in the world of Formula One. And it seems Bernie is considering all options to drag the sport out of the doldrums it finds itself in.

AR1 Staff Report