Mercedes "100% aligned" with Ferrari over F1 future

Thats very... erhm... comforting? I am legit not sure if thats a good thing. It seems like all four manufacturers more or less want to retain most of the current regulations, allthough Honda seem more willing to negotiate with the FIA as of present. So if the teams or manufacturers get the final say, the current stuff will likely be retained.

Doesn't really matter wether they agree since they don't run the show.

No other sport is run by the competitors. Let the rules be set and ALL teams meet them or find another place to play.

Simply put, too much power and influence in two teams and the predominant engine suppliers. Kills the competivity in the long term. I don’t recall any teams being so dictatorial in their past heyday, not in recent years with Red Bull, McLaren and NOT Ferrari in the Schumi years. No standardised parts for sure but F1/FIA have to wrestle back control or we are stuck with (mostly) boring dominance we have now for the foreseeable future - until one of them gets fed up of winning maybe or the corporate bean counters see diminishing returns and cut and run. Merc are the new boys, do they have the stamina to match Ferrari, McLaren, Williams and stay faithful if lean years come or are forced on them by change to suit the sport overall not just them, then the marketing boys call it a day! As we say in the UK “it’s not their train set”.

The issue I have with the likes Mercedes /Ferrari is that the control who will win the championship effectively. The supply of engines has been not been on the same level to their customers. When was the last time that an customer team overtook an factory team just on speed alone? That rarely happens. When HAM released the full potential of that Mercedes engine in Brazil you could see the power difference between the force India pu and the factory pu. Also they have not been willing the supply either Redbull or mclaren with an competitive pu. What they want is not to give their competitive edge away and why should They? No it is absolutely imperative that other pu suppliers find there way into F1. Otherwise the series becomes untenable.

The owners must continue with their route for the lifeline of the series is the support of multiple factory teams. Would love for Williams to get support from BMW, force India Porsche or any other combo.

It remains to be seen if any of the changes will actually become real. Good luck to the new owners.

Let's say Austin Martin want to enter with an engine but some engine parts that Mec/Fer/Renault they rather would buy. Example they could buy the turbo from Mec and integrate that to their own engine. They would save lots of money and same time mec would get development cost reduced. In a normal car I would not care if my Audi had an turbo from another company. I buy Audi because Design and as long the logo on the engine says Audi I'm good.

its a big game of chicken and they will lose. Should mercedes and ferrari leave they other teams would receive more money as RBR MB and ferrari take home far more money than other teams based on the seasons results. Take that inequity away and the other teams will make far more money. They want to protect their privileged status like the whites did with apartheid in South Africa. To me F1 with greater parity may bring in more sponsors.

We are slowly driving towards a significant crossroads. The big test is whether the average F1 fan has brand awareness and loyalty. That’s a given with Ferrari but the others, not so much. With the other “brands” it’s more about the value of the drivers. If there was a split and F1 retained 90% of the ‘star’ drivers, I believe that the majority of the fan base would stay with it. This is why the teams are ramping up emphasis on their junior drivers. They want to build fan loyalty early and then they (the manufacturers) will truly control the sport, which is a Very Bad Thing.