Ferrari rules out F1-powered roadcar

Ferrari's chief technical officer for road cars has ruled out making a direct rival to the F1-powered Mercedes-AMG Project One hypercar because he's not convinced such a car would translate to the road.

In an interview with motoring.com.au at this week’s Geneva motor show, Ferrari's Michael Leiters admitted he didn't know the full details of the German car-maker's F1-engine hypercar, but said the idea didn't appeal to the Italian car maker.

"Putting an F1 engine into a road car? We already did it with the F50 and I'm not convinced it works.

"An F1 engine runs at 16,000rpm… How can you use a car that revs to 16,000rpm on the street? You can't and if [the Mercedes-AMG Project One] doesn't rev to 16,000rpm, you have to ask the question, what remains of the Formula 1 engine?"

"Instead of actual F1 engine, I'm convinced it's better to take some concepts and innovations from a Formula 1 car… To make a supercar, I prefer to do it from scratch", said the chief Ferrari's engineer.

Following on from the controversial press conference where boss, Sergio Marchionne, criticised the car-maker’s California T and suggested expanding the range to offer new more models, Leiters suggested down-sizing would be key for Ferrari -- especially if it involved a new model that would sit below the folding hardtop convertible.

What the car-maker wouldn't be doing is using the 2.9-litre V6 twin-turbo that's under the bonnet of Alfa Romeo's Giulia QV and forthcoming high-performance version of Alfa’s Stelvio SUV.

"That's wouldn't be an opportunity for us [to use Alfa's V6]. If we were going to downsize from a Ferrari V8, it should be a Ferrari-specific engine that, despite having less cylinders would offer the same power as today's V8s.

"If we went V6, we would take a V8 and apply a totally different concept. There is a specific power output we have to work towards and the Alfa engine wouldn't help us achieve that.

“Today we are 180hp (135kW) per litre in the V8 application for the maximum power output. If you want to go over 200hp (150kW/litre) you have to think of new technologies like electric-assisted turbos or e-boost, " Leiters said.

The Ferrari CTO said an F1-inspired KERS system that mounts an electric motor on the axis of a turbocharger could prove key to boosting power and reducing lag and giving owners the driveability of today's V8 engines.

To help offset the weight of the battery cells, electric motors, enhanced crash structure and additional cooling system needed for the hybrid powertrain, Ferrari's chief engineer says the car-maker has developed advanced new lightweight composites.

These could on production models as soon as next year, he stated.