Ferrari contemplates engine upgrade for Austin

Maurizio Arrivabene admits Ferrari is toying with the idea of having a power unit upgrade for the United States Grand Prix, but says “we have to do our calculations” given Sebastian Vettel’s title bid.

The German now occupies the runner-up spot behind Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in the standings, courtesy of his P2 finish in last Sunday’s Russian Grand Prix.

Ferrari still has four engine development tokens to spend this year but both Vettel and team-mate Kimi Raikkonen have already used their four allocated engines.

Thus, any new change will lead to a grid penalty that would nearly dash Vettel’s hopes of securing a fifth crown, as he already trails Hamilton by 66 points with only 100 still up for grabs.

Asked whether Ferrari will introduce a new engine for the next round at Circuit of the Americas, Arrivabene did not rule out the eventuality.

“We’re thinking about it and will tell you in Austin what we’re going to do,” said the Maranello boss. “Of course, the situation with Seb now that he is second in the championship is changing things a bit.

“We have to to do our calculations at home and look at what we have in our hands before taking any kind of decision.”

One possibility would be to have the updated power unit solely mounted on Raikkonen’s SF15-T, considering that the Finn is no longer in contention.

The 2007 world champion actually said in Sochi that he was open to team orders in an effort to boost Vettel’s title chances.

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