Ferrari willing to help make alternative F1 engine

Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne says current manufacturers could supply alternative power units if they were subsidised by FOM.

The FIA looked in to the possibility of introducing and different specification of power unit from an independent supplier in order to help reduce costs for customer teams. However, the idea is currently on hold while engine manufacturers come up with new proposals to address the sound and cost of the current power units.

Marchionne believes any potential regulation change can still include the current manufacturers, but says Bernie Ecclestone's FOM should help foot the bill.

"If you go to Mercedes and you tell them 'please give us a group of engineers to develop in a parallel mode a different engine, different to that of Mercedes that is compliant with the F1 rules and that costs a certain amount' then I think FOM should cover that amount of money," Marchionne is quoted as saying by Autosport.

"Ferrari is available to join a project where we could develop power units. We would also consider sharing our technology but we should not be the only one. The development commitments should be shared with the other teams having the power units and of course that should be done in economic terms."

F1i classic: Jim Clark's last wins

Technical preview: What changes in 2016?

Hamilton v Prost v Schumacher

Use the red tabs on either side of the screen to scroll through more Formula One news and features

Five things to look forward in F1 in 2016

Key dates for the 2016 F1 season

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.

Recent Posts

Mercedes Allison’s big takeaway from F1’s Barcelona test

Mercedes technical director James Allison arrived in Barcelona last week bracing for chaos – and…

8 hours ago

Verstappen rules out F1 management role after retirement

Max Verstappen has made one thing crystal clear about life after Formula 1: don’t expect…

9 hours ago

Williams unveils bold new 2026 livery for FW48

Williams has officially pulled the wraps off the striking new look of its 2026 Formula…

10 hours ago

Newey sheds light on ‘aggressive’ Aston Martin AMR26 design

Aston Martin’s new-era Formula 1 challenger has barely turned a wheel in anger, yet it…

12 hours ago

The Midland M16 - Russia's first and last F1 car

On this day in 2006, the newly-christened Midland F1 Racing team unveiled its first car…

13 hours ago

Haas recruits Doohan as F1 reserve for 2026

Haas has added a fresh splash of Australian flair to its 2026 F1 plans, snapping…

14 hours ago