Saturday March 2nd, 2002

Proposed Formula One rule changes to limit the number of engines would benefit Ferrari and penalise their rivals, according to Williams technical director Patrick Head.

The proposals, to outlaw special qualifying engines and abolish free practice at Grand Prix weekends, have been presented as a means of cutting costs for teams in an increasingly difficult economic climate. Team bosses are due to vote on the measures on March 19 and Head voiced considerable scepticism.

Ferrari use Bridgestone tyres while their main rivals McLaren and Williams are with Michelin. The past season showed that the French company's tyres needed to be worn in to optimise their performance and Williams have routinely used Friday sessions to prepare them.

"The Michelin tyres are very good tyres but they require scrubbing, sometimes 10 laps and sometimes 15 laps," Head told reporters at the Australian Grand Prix on Saturday. "If you've got a two-stop race, that means we've got to do 45 laps to prepare our tyres for the race.

"If you're Ferrari with tyres that don't need scrubbing, and Michael Schumacher who only needs one lap to get a time out of the car, your best way of doing damage to your two serious competitors is to propose one engine for a weekend. It's all politics. We're being manipulated."

The more powerful and high-revving qualifying engines are good for limited mileage - drivers are allowed only 12 laps in official qualifying - and are then switched out and replaced by more durable ones for Sunday's race.

If teams were limited to one engine per driver for an entire weekend, they would have to be careful how many laps they ran with them to ensure they lasted.

Published at 09:53:57 GMT