Formula 1 | Ferrari changes power unit rotation for the season finale: new unit only at Suzuka?

The power unit situation at Ferrari continues to hold sway: after saving the third "accident" unit in Singapore, in fact, the Scuderia from Maranello would have changed the rotation of the power trains for this season finale, moving the debut of the fourth and final engine of this championship. Unlike Mercedes, Ferrari can count on a final development step guaranteed by the arrival of the fourth drive unit and the initial plan envisaged the installation of the updates already in Malaysia. A "boost" of power with which Sebastian Vettel could compete in the final rounds of this world championship on equal terms. However, the bad crash at the start of Marina Bay changed the cards on the table, allowing the Scuderia a less extreme rotation given that unit "3" can boast one less Grand Prix than initially forecast.

Vettel and Raikkonen will therefore try to squeeze the last kilometers out of the third power unit as much as possible in Sepang, an event which, let's remember, puts the drivers and mechanics of the single-seaters to the test, only to then fit the latest updates on the engine front for this 2017 season in Japan. It should be noted, however, that the final decision will only be taken in the days before the Grand Prix: Ferrari, in fact, could choose to allow itself another couple of weeks to sort out the final details of the new unit (there is talk of a slippery reliability. ed.), thus bringing the last unit to the United States only. In that case, however, the world championship objective could already have faded in favor of Lewis Hamilton. We will certainly know more in the coming days.

Roberto Valenti