Ferrari Has the Thirstiest Engine in F1

It seems the slow pace recorded by the Ferrari cars – as compared to their rivals Red Bull Racing – in the early stages of the Bahrain Grand Prix was caused by the heavier F10s. Meaning the fuel tank of the Ferrari F10 was filled with more fuel because the Italian manufacturer's powerplants are known to be a bit thirstier than the Renaults that power Red Bull's RB6s.

“The Red Bulls started the race with 10kg less fuel than the Ferraris. That would have been worth nearly 0.4 seconds a lap in the early stages of the race around the extended Bahrain track,” noted BBC pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz.

“Averaging out at 0.2secs per lap, reckoned Michael, Renault's fuel efficiency would have given Red Bull a 9.8-second advantage on Ferrari over the whole race distance,” added the Kravitz.

According to the same report, it looks like Alonso would have most certainly closed the gap on Sebastian Vettel in the late stages of the race, even without the engine problems experienced by the German's RB6 on lap 33. And that's because both cars would have ran on similar amounts of fuel, a section which Ferrari currently controls best in the series.

If we are to look at the fastest laps classification in Bahrain, Fernando Alonso scored the best lap time of the Sunday action, topping the charts with 1:58.287. He recorded this performance on Lap 45 of the race, only 4 laps before the chequered flag was waved. As compared to his time, Red Bull's Mark Webber stopped the clock some 2 tenths of a second later, also on Lap 45.

According to the same BBC reporter, who also interviewed Williams technical chief Sam Michael on the matter, the fuel efficiency order within the engine suppliers in F1 at the current time is Renault, Mercedes, Cosworth and Ferrari.