F1 Engine suppliers 2020: Who supplies engines to Formula 1 sides and why there are only four suppliers in the super-rich sport?
Formula 1 engines are undoubtedly the most crucial part of a Formula 1 car. However, there are only 4 companies, who supply the engines to the 10 present teams and 20 cars in the sport.
Presently, all the F1 teams use the V6 engine which was introduced in 2014. But still, all the teams are allowed to develop their own engines and make specifications, something which Mercedes started doing on V6 soon before it was announced to be in use.
Coming back to the topic, the four suppliers of F1 engines are: Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault and Honda. Out of these, four companies, three have their own teams on the paddock.
F1 Engine suppliers 2020- Who gives engines to whom?
Mercedes: The German team manufactures its own engines and probably has the best product on the grid.
Ferrari: Just like their rivals Mercedes, Ferrari manufactures their own engines.
Red Bull: Honda has been supplying the engine to the Austrian side since 2019. Earlier, the Japanese company, Renault was supplying the engine to Red Bull and were instrumental in their 4 successive Championship victory, but a string of bad performances ended their deal.
McLaren: The Formula 1 veterans are in a deal with Renault for engines, but it will discontinue next season, and the British team will start buying engines from Mercedes.
Renault: The French team is another team on the grid, which manufactures their own engines.
Racing Point: Racing Point has been using Mercedes engine for many years and plans to continue the alliance with them in coming years.
Alfa Romeo: The Swiss team uses the Ferrari engine and is in alliance with the F1 giants since long.
Alpha Tauri: Alpha Tauri is another team under the Red Bull brand, they unofficially work as a feeder club to the Austrian side and just like their big brothers they use Honda engines.
Haas: The only American team on the grid are the second customers of Ferrari ever since they made their debut in Formula 1 in 2016.
Williams: Apart from Racing Point, Williams also uses the Mercedes engine.
Why there are only four F1 engine suppliers?
There is a single answer to this, the engines designed in Formula 1 are complex and expensive to design. It takes a lot of complex for research and manufacturing. Therefore only a few companies are interested or prefer to build Formula 1 engines.
Additionally, the current guidelines of current engine regulations were announced there were only 3 engine manufacturers willing/within the sport available to build the new engines.
Honda has spent over $1B on engine development and is still 3rd best on the grid. Therefore, the biggest reason for no new parties being involved in it is because of cost.
However, the new regulations for F1 engines that will be implemented in 2021 deemed to be more relaxed, which could allow new manufacturers in the game.
