Ferrari have highlighted the importance of supplying customer teams with engines in 2014, in order to gain extra development mileage.
The manufacturer currently supplies Sauber and Toro Rosso alongside its own team.
It’s believed Sauber have agreed a deal to continue under Ferrari power in 2014 when the sport switches to the new engine formula. However Toro Rosso looks likely to drop the Italian power unit in favour of Red Bull’s supplier, Renault.
That would leave Ferrari with just one customer.
The team’s head of engine and electronics, Luca Marmorini, says it’s important for them to supply additional customers in order to gain additional testing mileage and knowledge of the new engine.
“I think a customer team is a very important opportunity for an engine supplier,” he said. “First of all we can test more engines and having no tests during the season we can collect a much wider database; in this sense it’s very good having customer teams.
“It’s also important to have a reference with a car having basically the same engine to have a good relative comparison with your car and a different car. So Ferrari is strongly committed to supplying competitive engines to customer teams.”
On the subject of Toro Rosso and Ferrari, Marmorini wasn’t sure of their future: “I don’t know if Toro Rosso will be with us next season, but still now we are working very well with them; it’s an important contribution for Ferrari’s engine development and I think also we are giving them a competitive engine.”
Force India are a potential customer for the Italians, with a discount being offered should they give Jules Bianchi a seat either this or next year.
