Honda & BMW Reported to Drop Opposition of 2006 F1 Engine Rules

Honda & BMW have reported that they will be ending their challenge to the F1 governing body's new engine rules for 2006. Honda & BMW together decided that legal action would be bad publicity for motor racing.

A spokesman for the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) confirmed that it knew of the Honda & BMW latest decision. Honda, BMW and Mercedes originally opposed the reduction of engine capacity from the current 3.0 litre V10s to 2.4 litre V8s in 2006 as part of a group of measures pushed through by the FIA. All three carmakers previously discussed possibly taking FIA to arbitration, arguing that the governing body had gone beyond its remit.

Max Mosley, FIA president, pushed the rule changes through on safety grounds, arguing that more engine power equals more speed and more speed means more danger for both drivers and spectators. Under Formula One's 'Concorde Agreement' any technical changes have to be agreed to unanimously by the teams, unless there are safety issues involved.

Honda, BMW and Mercedez countered that, at a time when F1 racing was trying to cut costs, it could be more expensive to switch to the V8 engines from the current V10 engine models.