The FIA has confirmed that both Ferrari drivers Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen will receive upgraded power units for the Russian Grand Prix, with the Italian marque choosing to spend three development tokens on the new units.
Ferrari headed into the 2016 season having spent 23 of its 32 allocated tokens – the most of any manufacturer – meaning it had just nine to play with throughout the season and now has just six with its latest development.
The new engine will be fitted to both cars for qualifying and the race, meaning Raikkonen will be on his second of five units and Vettel on his third, following an engine failure at the Bahrain GP.
It's believed the upgraded unit will deliver better combustion to deliver increased horsepower in the hope of closing the gap to Mercedes, but team principal Maurizio Arrivabene recently downplayed its significance.
Raikkonen too was wary about making bold claims: "Is it going to make an awful lot of difference? I don't know. There's nothing wrong with my engine, it's just a new spec. I don't know how it's going to be – we'll see," he said on Thursday.
Discussion about this post