Italy preview - Ferrari pin home hopes on engine upgrade - Formula 1
After their punishing defeat by Mercedes at Spa-Francorchamps, a power circuit if ever there was one, Ferrari come to Monza with hopes of turning the tide in front of their beloved Tifosi. The Italian team have invested some development tokens in a more potent version of their engine for their home race, with the aim of turning the tables on the Silver Arrows as they did in Malaysia and Hungary. Interestingly, Honda chief Yasuhisa Arai said this week that he believes the Japanese company’s power unit, as used exclusively by McLaren, is now less than 30bhp down on the Ferrari, but 40-50 behind the Mercedes unit, which suggests that Ferrari... Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene says that the upgrade won’t be too dramatic, that the modified motor won’t be a “super power unit, only an engine,” but in F1 racing anything that might move you forward is always a good thing. "I don't want to say what we have done or which part of the engine we have changed, but obviously it's important for us here to do as much as we can to be competitive, and thus to increase the power and torque of the engine. McLaren know that all too well after a brutal run in Belgium, but Honda's Arai continues to talk up the Mk3 version of their V6 power unit, which he says is. Source: www.formula1.com
