And this Mazda engine was a very successful engine indeed...
So Audi should put a crappy production-based engine at the back of the R18 and stop complaining about the rules ?
It's Audi's full right (I would dare to say responsibility) to negotiate more favorable rules for 2018 onwards. They would be foolish not to try, especially since the ACO-FIA need to maintain a minimum contingent of three manufacturers and no further manufacturer is banging at the door at the moment. It's the right time to do so.
At a minimum the ACO-FIA need to come up with a set of rules that still give a reasonable chance for diesel to remain a competitive technology to race. It's okay at the moment, but I am once again sure that the EoT is perfectible. Otherwise, the ACO-FIA may as well ban diesel technology altogether and come up with a one-fuel-only formula.