A 1.6 litre Ferrari?

The impending, most drastic change in Formula 1 engine regulations looms in 2013.
The current 2.4-litre normally aspirated V8 engines will be replaced by turbocharged 1.6-litre four-cylinder ones, which are more environmentally polite.
Fuel consumption, it is estimated, will be reduced by a minimum of 35%, more so with a focus on energy recovery that produce power without burning fuel, as in the KERS (kinetic energy recovery system), which already make a return this year, that will be key features on the cars, although initially they are to have mere 5 to 10 percent effect on the power generated purely via these systems.
It is back to the previous turbo era dominated by Honda, where F1 cars were decked with 1.5-litre pieces.
But one man sure can justify his unhappiness. Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo. Of course. The smallest engine currently in production on any Ferrari is in fact their 2,498cc pieces that are on the F10, their Formula One cars. In their road car production, the smallest is the 4,244cc V8 that's in four Maserati models - the Coupe, Spider, Quattroporte and GranTurismo.
No engine below 2,000cc has come out of Maranello since 1986, apart from the F1 turbos that ran until 1988, even those 1.5-litre V6 ones. Ferrari has never produced a four cylinder engine since the Ferrari-Lampredi straight fours designed by Aurelio Lampredi, the last of which came out in 1956!
I personally find it real hard to associate a four-cylinder 1.6-litre heart, with a Ferrari.
So, di Montezemolo calls it 'pathetic' as reported HERE.
But at the other end, Malaysian entrepreneur Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes is all smiles. Having stated his final piece on the Lotus naming controversy HERE, the Team Lotus principal and AirAsia chief says the switch to the smaller engines make F1 more relevant.
He's even calling for tyres to be of the same size as road cars, so as to make them also relevant to tyre development for the road market HERE.


What's certain, the mere orchestra on the starting grid with 24 angry turbos just waiting to pop off the line is a real sexy prospect for the audiophiles.
The bottom line is, F1 evolves on a daily basis and what they're guaranteeing is that it is changing for the better.