Engine makers want rules finalised soon

Discussions at a meeting of the Sporting Working Group on Wednesday indicated that there was continued unhappiness at the FIA's proposals to introduce a three-year engine freeze in Formula One from the start of 2008.

Sources close to the discussions have revealed that the engine manufacturers are now making moves to ensure that they are in a unified position prior to the Monaco Grand Prix, so that they can then submit their agreed proposal to the FIA for approval.

One source said: "We need to get a move on, as the rules have to be sorted by June 30. We want to have something ready soon so that we can then put it back to the Sporting Working Group - hopefully as soon as Monaco."

Although Renault, Ferrari and Cosworth have indicated that they support the concept of an engine freeze, the other manufacturers are believed to favour the adoption of a strict limit on the number of power-units teams can use during the course of the season.

This would possibly be introduced in parallel to the freezing of certain components on engines to reduce costs.

Honda's Otmar Szafnauer told autosport.com last month that he believed the best way to cut costs was to impose a cap on the number of engines teams were allowed to use during the season.

"I think an ideal way of saving costs is to limit the number of engines we need to build," he said. "Engines cost money, that's obvious, and the bigger teams probably build around 200 engines a year.

"And if you limit the numbers of engines to say 40 or 50 for the season, and you use them as you wish for testing and racing, it will naturally bring about longer life engines so you can use them in testing, and it will definitely save money because you're only building 40 engines as opposed to the 200 you built in the past. And it is easy to police."