Cosworth returns to Formula One

The 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship marks Cosworth’s return to Formula One as an engine supplier after a three-season sabbatical. While the company is entering familiar territory in terms of engine technology, the overall landscape of Formula One has changed significantly in that time and Cosworth is playing an important role in the sport’s
new era.

The withdrawal of several automotive manufacturers from Formula One over the last few seasons has led to a new influx of independent teams for the forthcoming championship who will be supported by Cosworth. But it is not just the new teams who can rely on the outstanding technical collaboration with Cosworth; the established AT&T Williams F1 team will also be powered by Cosworth’s CA2010 engine this season.

General Manager of Cosworth’s F1 Business Unit, Mark Gallagher: “We are very pleased to be working with the sport’s new teams and, having worked with them for several months, we are confident that each of them understands the challenges and pressures of competing in F1. We are also proud to be joining Williams who are very similar to Cosworth in terms of their independence and engineering pedigree. The technical collaboration with Williams will also benefit our other customers because Williams will push us hard and act as a benchmark for our engine performance.”

Cosworth’s return to Formula One has been made possible largely as a result of continued efforts by the sport’s governing body, FIA, to drive down the costs associated with participating at the pinnacle of international motor racing.

“The drive towards a more affordable Formula One was pivotal to Cosworth’s return,” continues Gallagher, “as it makes our ability to produce competitive, value-for-money engines extremely timely at the start of a new era for the sport. Cosworth is not returning to Formula One simply to make up the numbers; we are back because we want to showcase our technical and engineering excellence on a global stage and Formula One offers us the perfect platform to do that in partnership with our customers.”

When the FIA put out its tender for a standard engine supplier towards the end of 2008, it provided Cosworth with an opportunity to contribute actively to the sustainability of Formula One by supplying an economically viable engine package to teams. Cosworth’s
unique position as an independent engine manufacturer with the capability, commitment and experience enabled it to offer the most competitive package at an affordable cost and even after the standard engine regulation was dropped Cosworth remained the most attractive proposition for the new teams coming into the sport.

It is a testament to Cosworth’s engineering excellence that teams have turned to Cosworth to provide an affordable, yet competitive and efficient engine package.

Cosworth, of course, has an impressive heritage in Formula One dating back to 1963 and is second only to Ferrari in terms of overall Formula One race wins. The company is renowned for its legendary DFV engine design which dominated Formula One racing in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s, having made such a spectacular race-winning
debut in the back of Jim Clark’s Lotus 49 in the 1967 Dutch Grand Prix.

However, since Cosworth’s last race as an engine supplier in 2006, the company has undertaken an important period of diversification which has resulted in a leaner, more efficient and strengthened Cosworth. The company now has industry-specific business units that encapsulate a variety of fields including energy, defence, marine, aerospace, as
well as Formula One. Each of the main business pillars operates independently of each other, yet also benefits from a targeted cross-pollination of technology.

“Cosworth is quite a different company now,” comments Cosworth CEO Tim Routsis. “When we were last involved in Formula One as an engine manufacturer back in 2006, motorsport was the predominant activity of the business. Now the company has a much wider spread into some really quite interesting adjacent markets as well as motorsport.

The future of Cosworth is tremendously exciting. We have been growing at a rate of 35% a year over the last few years even through the recession and the forecast for the next 4-5 years is that the growth will still be around 20%, so I think it will be an exciting ride.”

Although the company as a whole has evolved since 2006, Cosworth has retained the all-important core know-how and engine development capability which has allowed the company to blend back into Formula One so seamlessly.

“The fact that Formula One imposed a freeze on engine development at the end of the
2006 season has allowed Cosworth an easier route back into the sport, but it has not been
a straightforward case of copying and pasting our CA2006,” explains Technical Director
Bruce Wood. “We had a very competitive and reliable engine in 2006 and one of the first F1 engines to exceed 20,000rpm, but we have had to meet completely different rpm restrictions for the CA2010 - which has to be fixed at 18,000 - and much greater durability demands. We have had to strengthen components to cope with the changes in vibration, resonance and pressures when running at 18,000rpm while looking at increasing the engine life to over 2,000kms. It has been a challenge, but an enjoyable one and we are looking forward to demonstrating Cosworth’s engineering excellence in Formula One once
again.”