MONTREAL, QC - JUNE 11: Fernando Alonso of Spain and McLaren Honda talks with FIA President Jean Todt before the Canadian Formula One Grand Prix at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on June 11, 2017 in Montreal, Canada. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

FIA president said the sport isn't changing this rule despite complaints from teams


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Formula 1 has implemented the three-engine rule for next season despite not every team being onboard with the change.

Teams had four engines for the season in 2017, and there are concerns that moving to three engines will result in a drastic increase in more grid penalties.

Red Bull's Christian Horner has been outspoken about the rule change, and he even called it "barking mad."

"I think there will be plenty of grid penalties next year and what you would hate to have is a championship decided on grid penalties," Horner told Motorsport. "We are getting to the point where with 21 races for three engines - it is nuts really."

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FIA president Jean Todt said despite the complaints, F1 is sticking with the three-engine rule. He said the rule will cut costs, and it will help smaller teams who struggle with customer deals.

"I don't feel it is easy to find the right solution," Todt said. "If you don't do anything - it will be more expensive to buy the engines.

"For the FIA to decide that you don't have limited amount of engines, it won't be a problem, but it would be a problem for the competitors. So you have to translate with grid penalties."

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Despite Horner's complaints, not every team agreed that they needed to go back to four engines. So, since there wasn't 100 percent agreement either way, Todt decided to keep the rule at three engines.

Horner believes there will be more grid penalties across the sport next year, and he might be right. But he didn't get the same support against the rule from other teams, so the sport is sticking with the three-engine rule. Cost-cutting is important for the FIA to consider, so it's easy to understand why they made the decision.