Ferrari are weighing up the benefits and drawbacks of bringing an upgraded power unit to the United States Grand Prix in just under a fortnight.
The Italian team are currently Mercedes closest rival having significantly closed the gap to the Brackley outfit. The team hope they can close it further and have four development tokens left to spend before the end of the year
Whilst they’re no longer in contention for the Constructors’ Championship – with Mercedes wrapping that up in Russia – Sebastian Vettel remains a distant second in the race for the Drivers’ title.
Introducing a more powerful engine in the hope Vettel can challenge Lewis Hamilton at the next four races is what Ferrari hope will happen, however with both Vettel and team-mate Kimi Raikkonen already using a fourth unit each, they would incur grid penalties as a result.
Therefore Ferrari need to weigh up the potential benefit against the loss of ten places on the grid – a significant blow to Vettel’s already slim chances.
Sources suggest Ferrari will run the upgraded engine in Raikkonen’s car, along with a new streamlined gearbox and rear aerodynamic package, to assess how well it performs in real-world conditions.
If the data shows a significant jump in performance, the team will likely introduce the upgrades to Vettel’s car at the next race in Mexico, taking a penalty in the process.
