Liuzzi plays down V10 advantage

Scuderia Toro Rosso driver Vitantonio Liuzzi has moved to play down the potential advantage that V10 engines may have next year

Michele Lostia Dec 6, 2005, 11:12 AM

With several teams unhappy about the current equivalency formula between V8 engines and their V10 counterparts, with the older detuned units still believed to have an 80bhp advantage, there are calls for the FIA to take action and slow them down even more.

But Liuzzi, who tested with a detuned V10 engine in a Scuderia Toro Rosso car at Barcelona last week, claims that the newer engines are already faster.

"The power (of the V10) compared to the 2005 configuration isn't comparable," he was quoted as saying by Autosprint. "I'd say we've lost more than 25 percent of our power.

"The V8s on the straight left me standing each time they went by. The positive thing is that on paper [our] engine will be more reliable."

Discussions about the power of V10 engines continued at last week's meeting of the Technical Working Group, although the FIA has made it clear that they will take no action until it is clearer about the full potential of V8 power-units.