The months of meetings and endless discussions that have gone into shaping new Formula 1 power unit regulations for 2021 have led to an impasse. That's the scenario currently unfolding after current manufacturers put a spanner in the FIA and Liberty works last week.
They appeared to have gone along with plans for what Ross Brawn termed a "simpler, cheaper and noisier" power unit, and reluctantly accepted the loss of the MGU-H. Last week's F1 Strategy Group meeting was actually supposed to be one of the final exercises in box ticking, prior to the final signing off of the new rules.
Instead, during what in World Cup terms might be called the final minutes of injury time, the manufacturers have jointly lobbed a free kick over the wall and into the back of the net. In effect, they are saying, "We're not so sure that we want to do this - can we keep what we have after all, but maybe with a few tweaks?"