Mark Gallagher says F1 “got it wrong” in forecasting hybrid engine reliability

Former head of Cosworth F1 Mark Gallagher says the sport “got it wrong” in forecasting how reliable its hybrid engines would actually be and has called for Renault and Honda to be given the chance to catch up with Mercedes.

Speaking on the F1 Midweek Report, Gallagher was reflecting on the weekend’s Austrian GP, which brought severe engine penalties for McLaren and Red Bull, respectively powered by Honda and Renault.

While Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat suffered 10-place grid drops for exceeding the limit of four engines allowed per season, the changes to Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button’s cars brought them 25-place penalties each – a “nonsense” according to Gallagher.

“I have to say that, having run Cosworth for a couple of years and sat in a lot of the meetings at which the FIA, along with the engine manufacturers, were discussing these new regulations, everyone in that room got it wrong,” he said.

“We specifically got it wrong in relation to the forecast of how reliable these highly complex hybrid engines would be.

“I think there really needs to be an understanding that there’s nothing wrong if the FIA admit that they got it wrong with the engine manufacturers and now change their approach to these rules, because it’s a nonsense. It’s a nonsense for fans, it’s a nonsense for the teams.”

Gallagher added that Honda are “fighting with both hands tied behind their back because they can’t develop the power units the way they need to; and on top of that, every time they have to change an engine or indeed an element of the engine they get a penalty.

“I think it’s very bad for the sport.”

Fellow guest Alex Lynn also highlighted the damaging spectacle of frontrunning drivers being forced to lap at the back of the field through no fault of their own.

“We’re not getting a race. You’ve got drivers like Jenson and Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat – fast drivers that should be further up the grid – just not even having a race,” the GP2 race winner and Williams test driver said.

“What’s the point in having three cars not even competing, just circulating around?”

In another revealing insight, Gallagher also said that when the current regulations were being formulated, the intention had been that no single engine manufacturer would be able to dominate the way Mercedes are.

“In 2010, a year before these regulations were signed off, I remember sitting in a meeting in Paris, at the FIA, and we all discussed what would happen if one manufacturer got it so right that they ran away with the ball,” he said.

“Everyone said: ‘Well we’ll just have to make sure that doesn’t happen.' Well that’s precisely what’s happened and the reality is that Mercedes deserve every pat on the back; they deserve these world championships that they’re winning last year and this year. But we now have to say we got that wrong.

He continued: “Renault need to be allowed to develop a competitive engine for Red Bull and their other teams. The same applies to Honda; it’s utterly ridiculous that McLaren-Honda have both hands tied behind their back and, as Alex said, a driver of Fernando Alonso’s capability, and Jenson Button’s capability, arrive at a grand prix weekend with enough grid penalties to put them in a different country.”