Return of the manufacturer era looming?

Formula One could on verge of seeing more engine manufacturers becoming involved in Formula One with the news that the Honda Motor Company may be interested in making a return to the sport. Autosport is reporting that with Formula One set to switch to 1.6 litre turbo charged engine's from 2014  Honda have held 'informal talks' with the FIA about a possible return to the sport.

Honda pulled the plug on it's involvement in Formula One at the end of the 2008 season and sold it's team to Ross Brawn in a management led buy out. The team went on to the championship in 2009 before being sold to Mercedes at the end of 2009.

Realistically I believe Honda will not come back to Formula One because the sport will not be switching to the new engine format. It was due to switch to V6 engines in 2005, however this did not happen and instead a compromise was met and team's switched from V10 engines to 2.4 litre V8 power plants.

Bernie Ecclestone, has openly expressed his objection to the engine format and a number of the team's have stated that the cost involved in developing the new engine's has been too high. The FIA, Bernie Ecclestone and the team's are du to meet shortly to discuss certain issues and it is expected that this particular matter will be top of the agenda and I fully expect the plan for the new engine's will be scrapped.

If the plan is scrapped it could potentially cause a number of problem's the main one could be at Mercedes AMG with Lewis Hamilton signing for the team with one eye on the 2014 move to the new engine reg's and Merc being being one of only three engine suppliers in the sport and one of only two fully works team's on the grid Hamilton may regret signing for the Brackley based team.

However if the new engine's are brought in we could see a raft on new suppliers coming into the sport. For example, in my opinion if Honda do decide to come back to Formula One, Toyota may decide to do the same. VW may also decide to entry the sport as an engine supplier too however I would find this scenario difficult to see as the manufacturer is now heavily involved in a World Rally Championship project and it is unlikely that they would be willing to cross over into F1.

So right now, the future of the 1.6 V6 turbo charged engine's is up in the air, however team's are still pushing ahead for a future with the engine's but a decision on this topic is expected very soon I believe because if the team's do use the new engine's they will need to test them in a car and not just on an engine dyno in the factory.