Williams head of vehicle performance Rob Smedley believes an engine unfreeze in F1 would lead to status quo at large cost.

Ferrari and Renault want to be able to bring a raft of updates to the power unit during the season from next year onwards, with the current regulations preventing any performance development once the engines have been frozen ahead of the first race. However, Mercedes - which enjoys a large performance advantage at present but was open to discussions over an unfreeze - has rejected the idea.

When it was put to Smedley that Williams would want to protect the advantage it has with Mercedes, he replied: "I don't think it's an advantage.

"What you have to consider is what benefit does that bring to the sport? Yes, Mercedes has got the march on the manufacturers, but if we open up the engine regulations Mercedes aren't going to sit still. Mercedes are going to do an awful lot of work and put an awful lot of investment in this generation of power unit and come out with something that is much bigger, better and stronger - as will Renault and as will Ferrari.

"In the end, the argument, I think, is that we will have effectively status quo and nobody will move forward or backward. We will end up where we are and there will be a great deal of cost involved that has to be offset somewhere. What Formula One doesn't need right at this moment in time is everyone incurring a huge amount of cost for no benefit to the show or anybody else."