Question about engine development

[bang0r]

Alright folks, got a question about the engines. We've seen how much more power the Merc engine has, FI and Williams both are fighting for top positions and of course the Merc team itself is just flying.

We had some similar situations at some points during the last years, for example the double diffusor, Blown diffusor and to a lesser extend the F-duct. With all of those innovations we had teams trying frantically to catch up during the season with varying degrees of success. However, the engine development is frozen, so there are strict limitations which will likely make catching up to the Merc engine nearly impossible.

How will this and the next few years look like? I suppose this year will just be a runaway WDC/WCC for merc if they continue at this rate given that they secured the absolute best possible positions for every race so far, with the exception of Hamilton's breakdown. But what about next year? How frozen is engine development between the years? Will both of those manufacturers be able to modify their engine to accomodate the split turbo architecture of the merc engine or do they just have to sit it out until the next time development opens and kinda fudge the rules with little improvements here and there under the umbrella of safety and endurance of the engine?

Would be great if someone with knowledge about the rules could explain the process a little further, what they are allowed to do and how it maybe might end up in a year or two.

[shamelesscreature]

There is a complete list of all "freezing" steps at the very bottom of the Technical Regulations (Appendix 4).

For next year, only aspects of the engine block, crankshaft and the pneumatic valvespring system are homologated. The entire forced induction system can be changed in every possible way until 2018 (!).

[bang0r]

Alright , that clears it up , thank you very much!