Cosworth – we can be competitive in Formula 1 – apparently it was an unspoken condition of the FIA for new teams to enter the F1 2010 season which was probably why N Tech and ProDrive (being keen on Mercedes powerplants in the past) were turned down.

According to Tim Routsis, he submitted engine data to an independent agency to see whether the championship outcome of last season would have changed if Cosworth engines were used by the entire grid.  Apparently not therefore the engines are reliable and are high performance.

The trouble with such test is nobody really knows if the study is a true test of performance.  Afterall, if the entire grid was on Cosworth engines then the performance wouldn’t change it would just be a reliability test.  Secondly, even if the test just put a Cosworth engine in one car on the grid vs all the other engines – this is just a simulation.

As we all know, each team makes simulations of the aero performance and engines and they don’t always correlate to on track performance so Cosworth’s simulation proof rubbish.

Cosworth may have the brains to design an engine but it doesn’t mean they have the resources to service 3 teams over a season as well develop the engines for better performance.

The one advantage it does have over other teams is that its starting from the ground up to develop engines designed around the rules unlike the other engines on the grid which are heavily restricted in terms of development and are essentially downtuned V8s from previous seasons.

My prediction?  The engines will make headlines for performance initially and as the season wears on, the engnes will probably suffer reliability problems and the teams like USF1 will jump to Toyota.