According to German automobile magazine ‘Auto Motor und Sport’, Scuderia Ferrari had already applied once to the FIA for a reliability repair, but without much success [judging by the issues at the Baku City Circuit in Azerbaijan]. Changes to the power unit are also long-term projects. Even if you a solution is possible today, it will not be built into the power unit tomorrow.
Mattia Binotto confirms this and rejects quick fixes: “For us, it’s not primarily about bringing in a new power unit. We also have to be clear about how to deal with it in the short term. Should we shorten the running times of the parts or change the operating parameters?” That may mean more engines and more penalties in one case, and a voluntary sacrifice of power in the other.
AMuS also reports that the Ferrari engine has four kilowatt more than Honda, eight kilowatt more than Mercedes, twelve more than Renault. But much more important is the advantage in driveability. Toto Wolff recommends listening to the individual engines during acceleration. None revs up as smoothly as the Ferrari. This also makes it possible to drive a much more advantageous gear ratio. But the Ferrari power unit has a weak point and that is reliability. The higher the mileage, the greater the worries. This is also seen at Haas and Alfa Romeo.
Because the technology for the ICE was frozen at the end of February and the hybrid system has to be homologated at the end of September, it was obvious for Ferrari to first look at power and performance. If necessary, the Maranello team wanted to look at reliability later. The regulations allow for improvements if a team can prove to the FIA that it is only a question of ensuring reliability.
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Mattia Binotto explains: “Reliability is a concern. Without it, you don’t win races. I don’t want to blame our engineers. They’ve done a great job with the power unit, if you look back to where we came from. We made a huge step in performance last year with the hybrid system and this winter with the engine. It looks like we are paying the price now.” – the Ferrari boss pointed out.
