Renault has backed Ferarri, on its suggestion that lifting Formula One’s engine freeze will not lead to a dramatic hiking in costs.
A crucial F1 Commission meeting is scheduled to vote later this month, on a proposal to relax engine development rules and allow some in-season modifications.
Ferrari, Renault and Honda have already shown their support for the change, but Mercedes is against the move, and has vowed to block the regulation tweak moving forward.
Mercedes’ concern is that such a late change to rules for 2014 could lead to a big ramp up in expenditure, that would need to be passed on to customer teams.
Renault however reckons its possible to allow in-season changes without it being hugely expensive, with careful planning beforehand.
Its head of track operations does however warn that costs could rise dramatically if a manufacturer started running parallel development programmes on its engines, as it could lead to double the sourcing of parts.
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