The small teams are worried. Currently, they pay around EUR 10 million per year for a customer engine supply, but next year's V6s are expected to cost between EUR 20 and 23 million. Mercedes chairman Niki Lauda insists: "The longer the contract period, the less it will cost our customers in the long run. In the end, (it will cost them) no more than today." Therefore, Force India has reportedly extended its Mercedes deal for five years.
Sauber, however, could be looking for a new solution, having hinted in Shanghai a week ago that it can not afford to pay Ferrari's price-tag around the 20 million mark. "It is rumoured Sauber will have Honda power, alongside McLaren in 2015," Schmidt reported. "Honda would have preferred to focus on just one team, but FIA president Jean Todt apparently intends to make the manufacturers share the customers fairly amongst themselves." (GMM)
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