Ferrari boasts the most powerful power unit in the field. The 066/10 delivers exceptionally high maximum power, and last season, through a regulatory clause, the engine experts from Maranello enhanced the hybrid component, providing more efficiency to the system. It’s an outstanding power unit that, when compared to Mercedes and Red Bull, has shown, on some occasions, reliability that is undoubtedly inferior.
These are issues the Prancing Horse has worked on to ensure higher reliability in the near future. Meanwhile, the calendar continues to present more races. Liberty Media has a single goal: boost the company’s coffers. To achieve this, the best measure is to increase the number of races. It doesn’t matter if drivers, technicians, and engineers disagree. What matters to the American owners is to ensure stellar entrances. Hence, every city worldwide is suitable for a race, especially if it’s in the United States.
By doing so, they aim to capture the American audience and increase the value of the premier motorsport category. Among the various negative factors emerging from the increased races, beyond the endless hassle of ultra-oceanic travels, there is the aforementioned reliability issue. Yes, because even though the kilometers the cars have to cover are increasing, the technical regulations remain unchanged.
In this stringent dynamic, the equation of more races and more available mechanical parts does not exist. Referring to power units, for example, in the 2024 Formula 1 season, there will be 24 races to complete the championship, and the available power units will still be three. This means that the engines must necessarily last longer, even considering the 6 Sprint Races that increase the total mileage.
Ferrari: PU 066/10 a winning weapon in 2024
Many criticize the International Federation, blaming Nicholas Tombazis and company for the current regulations. Firstly, it should be noted that there were various meetings on this matter, attended, of course, by all the teams. Keeping in mind that power units are frozen until the new regulations come into effect in 2026, the intention was to reduce costs as much as possible. Therefore, despite the proposal to reduce the number of engines available for the entire championship to 4, it was decided not to change things.
It’s a pity that limiting costs to spend more on new technologies doesn’t seem like a brilliant idea. This is because mechanical parts break, and over the course of a championship, paying the penalties in place, teams still use more components. Some argue that certain teams conspired to try to disadvantage Ferrari, believing that the Italian team won’t manage to complete the entire championship with just three units.
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This rumor has no foundation whatsoever. Just barroom gossip and nothing more, used in this case to sell a few more copies of the newspaper or gain more views through the web. According to information gathered by the editorial team of the Italian website FUnoanalisitecnica, Ferrari was in agreement with the rest of the teams. Another noteworthy fantasy we want to report concerns a topic of the near future.
The teams that allegedly voted against the 4 power units in 2024 did so mainly to put much more strain on Ferrari’s engine department, which would automatically slow down the development of power units towards 2026. Hyper-uranic nonsense continues to unfold. News that, in this case as well, has neither head nor tail. In all this, there is a much more interesting theme to “pay attention” to. Let’s do that.
Instead of making absurd calculations on behalf of the teams, considering the mileage of power units, it is much more profitable to mention one aspect: Ferrari, through a more efficient management of the internal combustion engine, has managed to increase the maximum duration of the endothermic engine since last year. A meticulous job that largely derives from the use of new software, an important element that must undoubtedly be considered.
In conclusion, let’s comment on a hypothetical scenario. We know that the Italian team is very focused on Project 676. However, they don’t expect to win the championship in 2024. The realistic goal, already quite complicated, aims to close part of the gap on the formidable Red Bull, trying to navigate the learning curve effectively and refine the car throughout the season. For this reason, if the used power units are 4 instead of 3, it will change little. As often happens, there are many concerns being read about that are, in reality, entirely nonexistent.
Source: Alessandro Arcari for FUnoanalisitecnica
