F1 teams agree to make cars three seconds faster for 2017

The decision comes after a meeting of the F1 Commission in Geneva, comprising FIA president Jean Todt, F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, representatives from all 11 teams, plus those from various sponsors and promoters.

Autosport understands following a meeting of the Strategy Group earlier in the day two proposals regarding the '17 rules were put forward for the Commission to deliberate over.

One was Red Bull's stance regarding the pursuit of making the cars five to six seconds per lap quicker, as originally outlined in plans aired last May.

The other was a compromise solution from McLaren whereby the cars are only three seconds per lap faster.

The latter was partly proposed to allow tyre supplier Pirelli to feel comfortable developing a range of rubber able to cope with the increased loads required for laps up to three seconds quicker, rather than problems likely to be posed in going five seconds faster.

When it came to voting, with a 66 per cent majority required, of the 26 able to vote, 20 were in favour of the McLaren concept, three against, with three abstentions.

Although the current regulations state the rules have to be signed off by the end of this month, in order to aid the finalisation of the plan, the teams have been given an extension of April 30 as a cut-off date.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner will be particularly unhappy his team's idea was rejected as he felt going three seconds per lap quicker was effectively a halfway-house solution.

It now falls on all concerned to come up with a definitive testing plan over the course of this season to ensure the targets stipulated can be met, and the tyres are safe going into 2017.

The same April 30 date also applies to the final engine regulations going forward.

Last month the four engine manufacturers - Mercedes, Ferrari, Renault and Honda - agreed to a reduction in cost to supply the 1.6-litre V6 turbo-charged hybrid systems to €12million per season to a customer team from 2018.

It is understood prior to then there will be a cost reduction of one million euros per annum.

It also appears likely from 2019 manufacturers will be asked to supply one less power unit per driver per season.

At present each driver is allowed four power units per season if there are 20 races or less, increasing to five if there are 21 or more, as is the case this year.

There were also discussions regarding an increase in race-fuel consumption, but this was rejected as it was deemed to be sending out the wrong message.