Exhaust saga was ‘political’ not technical – Illien

The blown exhaust saga has been a political rather than a technical argument.

That is the view of Mario Illien, the former designer of Mercedes’ formula one engines who now as an outsider admitted to watching the Silverstone saga unfold.

During the British grand prix weekend, teams argued about the FIA’s clampdown on the grounds that limiting off-throttle blowing too much risked damaging the engines.

“That’s not an issue.  It’s an argument, but it really is not an issue,” Illien is quoted by ennstal-classic.at.  “These were political statements.”

He also played down continuing fears that, with F1 now having scrapped its plans for four-cylinder engines, the V6 turbos of 2014 will also not sound as good as the current V8s.

“I don’t think it’s an issue,” said Illien.  “The noise of a V6 turbo is fine.”

He also refused to rule out following the footsteps of Craig Pollock’s PURE in designing a V6 engine for F1.

“I can’t say yet.  If a manufacturer wants an engine from us, then I would definitely be interested in a long-term project.”

© RIF | GMM