SEPTEMBER 23, 2001

Mercedes tipped to design a new 90-degree engine for 2002

THE Mercedes-Benz V10 next year is expected to be an all-new engine with the rumors in England suggesting that this will be a 90-degree unit rather than the current 75-degrees. This would be following the trend in F1 for wider vee-angles which reduces the center of gravity of the entire car. The problem with the wider-angled engine is vibration but it seems that Renault Sport is well on the way to solving that problem with its 110-degree engine which is being developed by Benetton.

There is no doubt that McLaren had been hamstrung on occasion this year by being underpowered in comparison to the latest Ferrari V10 and the BMW V10, the most powerful engine of all at the moment. The switch to a 90-degree unit is therefore not a big surprise.