F1 will be five seconds slower in 2014

Bernie Ecclestone is worried that F1 cars will be five seconds slower next year than in 2013.

This is the proclamation of Auto Motor und Sport correspondent Michael Schmidt, who stated that the F1 boss is pushing for an overhaul of the engines, in order to increase the rpm from 12,000 up to 15,000.

The revision should alleviate some of Ecclestone's fears regarding the sound of V6s compared to V8s, however Schmidt said the change is unlikely.

This is because the current rules limit the capacity of the engines to 100 kg per hour, so that each car uses only 135 liters of fuel per race.

So the fuel allocated in each car should be easy to change, but some engine manufacturers such as Mercedes, Renault and Ferrari are rumored to be unwilling to alter their designs for V6 engines.

Ecclestone has another problem, namely next year's aerodynamic regulation change which is expected to cause a five-second drop in lap times.

“F1 will no longer be far ahead of GP2 and the Renault World Series,” Schmidt wrote.

The small teams are also worried, as they currently pay around 10 million euros per year for a supply of engines but next year the costs are expected to be 20-23 million euros.

Mercedes chairman Niki Lauda insisted: “The longer the contract period, the less the engines will cost our customers in the long term. In the end the engines will have the same costs as today."

In fact, Force India would have extended its contract with Mercedes for five years.

Sauber, on the other hand, would be looking for a new solution, after having admitted in Shanghai that it does not want to pay the 20 million requested by Ferrari.

“It is thought that Sauber will be Honda-powered, along with McLaren in 2015,” Schmidt said.

“Honda would have preferred to concentrate on a single team, but FIA president Jean Todt would like engine suppliers to divide up the various teams.”

Stefano Rifici