MEXICO CITY -- Red Bull's Christian Horner would vote to scrap Formula One's current engines "tomorrow" if he could, as he believes the V6 turbos have done "nothing but damage" the sport.
Horner has been a long-time critic of the six-cylinder hybrid engines introduced in 2014. The engines have lost the sound of previous generations of F1 cars which ran V8s or V10s and have also rapidly escalated costs.
F1's manufacturers are set to be handed a blueprint for post-2021 plans at a meeting in Paris next week but Horner does not think F1 can afford to wait that long for new engines to be introduced.
"I'd love to see it come in next year.," he said. "For me, these engines have done nothing but damage Formula One. They've done nothing to contribute to the sport. They've taken away the sound; the passion and they've added too much complexity.
"They've become far removed from road car technology; they're effectively turning into diesel engines in some cases - and I can't see anything that they've contributed that's been positive.
"So, the sooner it goes, the better. Unfortunately there's a contract between the existing manufacturers and the FIA that guarantees the engine will be in place until 2020, and I can't see there being sufficient motive amongst all the manufacturers to get rid of this technology and this power unit before 2021."
The FIA wants to find a solution that allows for cheaper, louder and sufficiently powerful engines, though it is unlikely F1 will abandon the hybrid concepts completely. Horner is encouraged by the early indications he's had from F1 bosses about what the proposals might be.
"I'd like to see a cheap, standard V12 engine at a 1000hp [horsepower] sounding fantastic - but I doubt we're going to get that. I think that what's potentially going to be presented sounds sensible. I don't have any hard details.
"It seems like it's the first significant move by Liberty about laying their stall out for the future. And of course that power unit is a crucial part of what Formula 1 will be for the next 10 years, from 2021 onwards."