MAY 6, 2006

Ferrari's impressive leap forward

Ferrari's engine performance at Imola raised a few eyebrows and some of the other teams rushed off to calculate how many horsepower would have been needed to achieve such a leap forward. The answer, it seems, was an impressive 80hp. At the Nurburgring Ferrari's Ross Brawn sought to play down the huge leap.

"People like to talk about rpm but rpm is not the only parameter and if you can produce the power at lower rpm then that can sometimes be more efficient. So we've got a very good engine, for sure, that works very well in the chassis. We're obviously pleased with the straight-line speed, we're pleased with the efficiency of the car, but it's come about because of an awful lot of work by a lot of people."

Red Bull Racing uses the same engines as Ferrari but cannot come even close to the level of performance. Mark Smith was asked why.

"It's down to a combination of lots of factors, and we certainly have no complaints about the Ferrari engines," he said. "We're not embarrassed at the results, but certainly disappointed and frustrated. We will be working in lots of areas to make up the deficit. The car has more potential than it has displayed so far, it's a case of working on the problems. We have identified some solutions to our issues and due to some improvements, then maybe in three or four races time we can be a lot higher up. There are no guarantees but certainly there are no issues with the Ferrari engine."

Red Bull is rumoured to be switching to Cosworth V8 in the future.