Formula One news

V8 is 2.5s slower - Panis

Olivier Panis took a break from his usual schedule of tyre testing for Toyota this week and trialled the new development V8 engine the team is preparing for next season's rule change. "My first impression, not surprisingly, was that it was quite a bit slower than the V10," Panis said. 

"You notice that the acceleration is not as strong and that the g-forces in the corners are less," he continued. "But when you consider that the engine has around 200bhp less than a V10, that is to be expected and will be the same for everyone. It even makes old men like me think about re-launching an F1 racing career!" 

"On the final day I did a 1m21.3s lap, which compared to typical laps of around 1m18s for the V10s," Panis added. "That's very good for the engine's first run because we weren't operating it near its maximum potential. Also, you have to take into account that the engine is being run in an adapted TF105 and not a bespoke chassis. I would say that a time in the 1m20s region will be possible and that the time difference solely down to the engine will be something like 2.3s to 2.5s on this circuit."

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