Breaking news

Formula 1 Belgian GP

Ferrari explains why it is waiting until Monza for new engine

Ferrari has confirmed it intends to run its latest specification of engine at its home race in Italy next weekend.

Jonathan Noble

Jonathan Noble

Edited: Sep 3, 2019, 9:29 PM

Copy link

Share on Facebook

Share on Twitter

Share on WhatsApp

Share on Linkedin

Share on Pinterest

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF90

With the Italian car manufacturer’s customer teams Haas and Alfa Romeo having given a debut outing for the third power unit of the year in Belgium this weekend, Ferrari has said it preferred to wait until Monza.

Speaking at Spa-Francorchamps on Saturday, Ferrari’s sporting director Laurent Mekies was clear that the power sensitivity of Monza – where an extra 10bhp is worth around 0.2 seconds per lap – played a part in its decision.

“It is the highest power effect of the year... what that means you gain 10hp on your engines and that is two tenths in your pocket,” said Mekies.

“A lot of people, including ourselves, use it [Monza] to bring their third and last power unit, although you may have seen a lot of our competitors have anticipated in doing that here.

“But there is a reason – the engine’s performance may drop with mileage, so you want the freshest engine with the higher power effect of the year.”

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto explained that giving Haas and Alfa Romeo the first running of the new power unit in Belgium was not about getting extra data on the engines to detect any potential problems.

Asked by Motorsport.com about how useful having the customers running the new engine early was, Binotto said: “It is not useful.

“The reason why we are anticipating is not to get real data, because by the time you introduce a unit it should be reliable, fully reliable and homologated and validated on the dyno.

“The reason we are introducing it is because we are on different scenarios in terms of allocations and in terms of mileage, and certainly by splitting the building of the engines it makes it a lot easier at the factory.”

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Read also :

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Facebook

Share on Twitter

Share on WhatsApp

Share on Linkedin

Share on Pinterest

Share on Viber

Previous article Belgian GP: Leclerc quickest in FP3 as Hamilton crashes

Next article Belgian GP: Leclerc beats Vettel to pole by 0.7s

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

More from

Jonathan Noble



Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours

Formula 1

Formula 1

Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours



The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season

Formula 1

Formula 1

The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season



Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress

Formula 1

Formula 1

Australian GP

Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress

More from

Scuderia Ferrari



Charles Leclerc and Pecco Bagnaia: From kings to princes

MotoGP

MotoGP

Charles Leclerc and Pecco Bagnaia: From kings to princes



Sainz blasts "most unfair penalty ever", seeks stewards' explanation

Formula 1

Formula 1

Australian GP

Sainz blasts "most unfair penalty ever", seeks stewards' explanation



Calado: "Difficult" for WEC Hypercar newcomers "to win straight off"

WEC

WEC

Calado: "Difficult" for WEC Hypercar newcomers "to win straight off"

Latest news



Spire, Chris Gabehart reject Joe Gibbs Racing premise on deleted texts

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Charlotte II

3 h

Spire, Chris Gabehart reject Joe Gibbs Racing premise on deleted texts



Ricky Stenhouse explains his side of Michael McDowell conflict

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Charlotte II

7 h

Ricky Stenhouse explains his side of Michael McDowell conflict



Barnes: Why IndyCar’s updated licensing system fails its own integrity test

IndyCar

Indy IndyCar 8 h

Barnes: Why IndyCar’s updated licensing system fails its own integrity test



Why NASCAR is not penalizing Stenhouse, McDowell for post-race theatrics

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Charlotte II

9 h

Why NASCAR is not penalizing Stenhouse, McDowell for post-race theatrics

Feature

Discover prime content



Christian Horner's inside story of how Red Bull built its own F1 engine

Formula 1

By Jake Boxall-Legge

Christian Horner's inside story of how Red Bull built its own F1 engine



Exclusive video: Christian Horner interview on his Red Bull exit, Mercedes rivalry and more

Formula 1

By Autosport

Exclusive video: Christian Horner interview on his Red Bull exit, Mercedes rivalry and more



Why Mercedes' latest 2026 F1 update is no downgrade

Formula 1

Singapore GP

By Jake Boxall-Legge

Why Mercedes' latest 2026 F1 update is no downgrade



'Senior moment' or breakdown of trust? The implications of Hamilton's Singapore GP meltdown

Formula 1

Singapore GP

By Stuart Codling

'Senior moment' or breakdown of trust? The implications of Hamilton's Singapore GP meltdown

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts

Subscribe