Ericsson unsure about older-spec Ferrari engine

Sauber's Marcus Ericsson believes it's too early to judge whether the use of a year-old Ferrari engine will impact the team's performance in 2017.

The Swiss outfit has retained Ferrari as its engine partner this season but deliberately elected to use the manufacturer's older-spec power unit which comes at a cheaper cost.

"I think it’s impossible to know at the moment," Ericsson said when asked if the choice would affect Sauber's performance.

"We know what we get and we know that’s our package for this year and we need to maximise that and if that’s going to be good enough or not compared to the competitors, I think it’s written in the stars!"

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With increased downforce levels equating to more drag this year, the necessity to rely on power appears to be a pre-requisite for performance.

Exploiting a year-old engine could put Sauber at a disadvantage, but Ericsson remains unconvinced for now.

"Of course it’s a worry. I would be lying if I said it wasn’t, because if everyone else finds massive improvements with new engines then it’s going be a big problem for us.

"But from what I’ve heard that’s not going to be the case."

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