F1 Plans to Standardize F1 Gearboxes
FIA plans to standardize a gearbox unit for all F1 teams. For this purpose, the governing body of the motor sport has recently issued a tender to find an official supplier of a single specification gearbox for the 2021-2024 F1 seasons.
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FIA officials have come to a conclusion that F1 teams have to use gearboxes with similar internal components; however, teams can construct their own housing/casing solutions to adjust their individual suspension systems to them. All bidders must submit their applications by March 3-rd. FIA plans to make a final decision by the end of April this year.
This step may seriously affect many F1 teams, as 6 out of the 10 current F1 teams manufacture gearboxes for their cars in-house. At the same time, Alfa Romeo and Haas use gearbox solutions from Ferrari, Racing Point buys gearboxes from Mercedes, and Toro Rosso uses Red Bull’s technology. At the same time, Sauber and Racing Point have not produced housing solutions for gearboxes and have no financial capacities to do that at the present moment. In addition, the supply of gearboxes is one of income sources for some F1 teams.
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One of potential suppliers is Xtrac company, but there is a chance that one of F1 teams can win this tender (Mclaren, for example, is the sole supplier of engine control units for F1 teams). According to the documents, the main goal of this undertaking is to curtail expenses of F1 teams that have different budgets and eliminate the need for teams to produce gearboxes.
It should be mentioned that F1 officials discussed possibilities to increase the number of “standard” components as a way to reduce costs starting from the season 2021. Last year, F1 Technical Director Pat Symonds said that elements, which do not affect the difference in speeds between F1 cars, should be standardized. FIA noted that the new gearboxes won’t differ much from the existing ones, but the number of gears will be reduced from 8 to 7.
In addition, the FIA tender will contain the information about regulations to be introduced in the 2021 season. The document contains detailed info about the MGU-K kinetic motor generator, as well as some data on plans for the standardization of other parts, such as an internal propeller shaft.
