Volkswagen Confirms Interest In Supplying Engines to Formula 1

With BMW out of Formula 1 and Mercedes forking off from McLaren to start its own team, there’s a lot of shakeup in the German side of the sport. And now it looks like there may be more coming: Volkswagen, the German giant has confirmed its interest in Formula 1, but not as a manufacturer backing a single team but in becoming the world engine supplier after the current V8s disappear in 2013.

“It is clear that we [Volkswagen] are looking at Formula 1,” but that VW is “waiting for the FIA’s decision with respect to the use of a world engine,” Hans-Joachim Stuck, former Formula 1 driver and VW’s current motorsport representative, told Germany’s Sport Bild. He also confirmed that VW has no interest in creating its own Formula 1 team.

Formula 1 teams currently use high-power 2.4-liter V-8s supplied by various manufacturers including Cosworth, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, and Renault. The Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), is currently in discussions with the teams deciding what engine will replace the V-8s at the end of 2013. It is rumored manufacturers engines will be replaced with one “world engine” to help bring costs down. VW is interested in the position of world engine supplier.

FIA wants the new engines to be more fuel efficient and coupled to a kinetic energy recovery system similar to the one used last season. It is rumored that the engine will be a small 1.5-liter turbocharged, direct-injected four-cylinder unit producing about 900 ponies. These are a few steps FIA are taking to improve the efficiency and green image of F1.

A decision regarding the engine specifications is expected before the end of the year. It remains to be seen whether the FIA decides on a world engine or if teams will be allowed to develop their own units. If VW does gain the world engine supplier position in 2013, it would be for a six year period ending in 2019.

Both McLaren and Ferrari’s technical directors are onboard with the idea of a smaller, turbocharged engine, but not necessarily with a world engine supplier.“As far as the 2013 engine is concerned, I think that Formula 1 does need to move on and show that it is moving in a fuel-efficiency age,” Tim Goss, chief engineer of McLaren’s MP4-25 Formula 1 car, said during a conference call. “So we [McLaren] fully support all the moves that the Engine Working Group and FOTA (Formula One Teams Association) are doing to push Formula 1 in that direction. The concept of a 2.4-liter V-8 is getting a little bit dated now and I think the move to turbocharged engines with KERS is the right thing to do.”