Williams technical boss Pat Symonds has cautioned against a rush towards new regulations for 2017 – and says that the priority should be to ensure that the sport’s teams are in a healthy state.
Discussions are underway about more powerful engines and ways of making the cars look spectacular.
“I like the idea of 1000bhp engines, I like the idea of spectacular cars,” said Symonds today. “I also like the idea of having a lot more cars on the grid, and that’s what I think should be our prime concern at the moment, to have a good business, and something that spectators also want to watch. They can at times be mutually exclusive unfortunately, but I think there is a lot that we can do within the framework that we have, and particularly to improve our engagement with the public.
“I think that we are much too early into a new set of rules to start radical change, but we should never be afraid of change, either.”
Meanwhile regarding the potential of the FW37 he said: “Competitiveness is a relative thing. We’ve certainly taken steps that I hope will move us forward, but I don’t know yet what our competitors have done. I hope that at least we start where we finished.
“Our development rate last year was one of the things I’m particularly proud of, we really did add a lot of performance to the car relative to our competitors last season. We’re applying all of the same sort of philosophies to doing that. We want to get in there and be fighting.”
Adam Cooper F1 
Allow me to translate that for you.
“We are using the dominant power unit and any change of regulations is likely to change that. Therefore, we are against it.”
Pat was referring to the combination of the very high costs of these current power units, and the overall marketing / sponsorship challenges for F1, (fewer sponsors, TV ratings problems, etc)…
..and that is no different from Ferrari and Red Bull pushing for a engine change because they don’t have the dominant power unit.
Just the usual political game.
I like the idea of more powerfull cars but I think it should be with the current engines. Remove ERS power limit and modify the fuel restriction a bit.
I think that 1000bhp power outputs, if they occur, should only be part of the solution. I want to see radical changes to the aero rules, including the banning of wings, introduction of partial wheel fairings, and a move to 13 wheel rims. It is time to cut out the blind alley of the current aero configuration and give engineers more freedom to innovate.