Ferrari Statement
"The Board of Directors of Ferrari SpA met today under the chairmanship of Luca di Montezemolo, to examine the third quarter results. The Board of Directors also examined the proposed changes to the Formula One regulations, in the light of the current global economic crisis.

"Whilst reiterating its wholehearted commitment to a substantial and needed reduction in costs in Formula One, starting with propulsion, the Ferrari Board of Directors expressed strong concerns regarding plans to standardise engines as it felt that such a move would detract from the entire raison of a sport with which Ferrari has been involved continuously since 1950, a raison d’etre based principally on competition and technological development.

"The Board of Directors expressed the opinion that should these key elements be diminished, it would have to re-evaluate, with its partners the viability of continuing its presence in the sport."

Ilmor is reportedly the front runner to develope and build Formula One engines should the FIA decide to go to a standard engine formula.

According to the German publication Auto, Motor und Sport, Ilmor is one several contractors who have responded to FIA's invitation to tender along with Cosworth, Mecachrome, Zytek and Judd. None of the current Formula One manufacturers are expected to submit a proposal.

All of the firms mentioned have at one time participated in Formula One.

Ilmor supplied 3.5 litre V10 engines for various F1 teams from 1991 to 1994 and they built engines for Mercedes Benz's F1 program until the German manufacturer took complete control of that process in 2005. Since 1983, the company has also been involved in engine design and development for the IndyCar series and in 2003, they entered into a partnership with Honda to supply and build all the engines currently used in the IRL.

Cosworth supplied engines to the Jaguar, Williams, Minardi, Red Bull and Toro Rosso F1 teams from 2000 until leaving the sport in 2006. They were also involved in engine design and development in American open-wheel racing, including being the sole supplier for the Champ Car World Series.

Mechachrome was responsible for supplying the Williams team and Canadian Jacques Villeneuve with engines during the 1998 F1 season. The company has also designed and developed engines for GP2 and endurance racing.

Zytek was the first company to supply the FIA Formula 3000 series with engines and they have also been involved in endurance car racing as well as supplying engines to the A1GP series from 2004 to 2008.

Judd supplied Formula One engines to March, Williams F1 and Ligier in 1988, scoring four podium results in their first season of competition. At the end of the 1992 season, Judd withdrew from F1 competition but John Judd entered into an agreement with Yamaha to continue production of his engines and in 1997 Damon Hill narrowly missed winning the Hungarian Grand Prix in a Yamaha-powered Arrows.

McLaren’s engineering boss Paddy Lowe expects the introduction of Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS) will shake up the pecking order from circuit-to-circuit in 2009.

Next year cars will be allowed to run with KERS units to recover and store kinetic energy under deceleration and then use it as a boost to aid overtaking.

Lowe believes KERS will provide a greater advantage at some circuits over others, and as a result, the order at the front could change from race-to-race depending on which team has developed the best system and whether it suits the track.

“Certainly, the variation from circuit to circuit will be different,” he told McLaren’s official website.

“Also KERS will have more authority at some tracks than at others – so the pecking order from circuit to circuit may change a little bit.”


Lowe added that building a good KERS unit will be about reducing weight and making it more efficient rather than producing power, which will be capped at around 80bhp.

Many teams are already concerned that KERS will push the basic weight of their cars closer to the 600kg minimum, restricting the ability to adjust weight distribution with movable ballast.

As a result, Lowe believes the main battleground for KERS development will be on reducing weight and optimising its integration with the car’s set-up.

“There will definitely be constant development of the KERS device through the year,” said Lowe.

“One thing to bear in mind is that the ultimate idealised performance benefit of KERS is capped – because it’s limited in power and energy.

“So assuming you’ve delivered to that cap, you’re looking more into the domains of doing it for less weight or doing it more efficiently or more reliably.”