Ferrari to bring extra HP to Brazil

Ferrari, who are financially powered by cancer causing Marlboro cigarettes, will bring more horsepower to Brazil

For Brazil, Ferrari's two F2007 cars for Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa will be fitted with fresh engines. Under current regulations the engines must last two race weekends, but with only one round left this season, Ferrari will be pushing as many of the tolerances as possible to gain extra performance according to the team's track engine chief Mattia Binotto.

"In the past, when we had this situation of not having to prepare an engine to last for two races, it could lead to some extreme engine experimentation from teams, but now with the engine freeze there are limits to what can be done," says Binotto. "In the past you could have carried out dedicated development for just a single race or even built special components with a shorter life."

"Now, all components must remain the same but it is true that the distance the engines that we bring to Sao Paulo must cover is divided by two: five hundred kilometers instead of one thousand," he added. "It means that we can try to increase the severity of usage of the engine, for example by running higher revs, try to get the maximum benefit in terms of performance. We can also run it at higher temperatures. As for the Interlagos circuit itself, the main feature as far as the engines are concerned is its height above sea level which causes a reduction in power."

"On top of that, the fact the main straight past the pits is uphill also means that engine power is at a premium," he added. "You therefore need to aim for maximum power down the main straight to give you the opportunity to overtake, so the choice of gear ratios is very important. These factors mean that, when setting up the car, it should be optimized not necessarily to get the best lap time but more for maximum speed and acceleration on the main straight."