F1 considering 1,000 HP engines as Ferrari cleans house

On tap this week:

In what can only be seen as confirmation that the Scuderia had the wrong people in place during Fernando Alonso's five years in scarlet, Ferrari continues to dump key personnel as it readies itself for a new high-profile driver.

When four-time F1 champ Sebastian Vettel arrives in Maranello next season, the team will have a very different look from the Alonso years.

There's a new team boss in former Marlboro man Maurizio Arrivabene along with a few other new faces in the front office. In the garage, the team shed chief designer Nikolas Tombazis, the aerodynamicist who was responsible for many cars driven by seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, and director of engineering Pat Fry.

The guy tapped to turn things around is James Allison, who moved to Ferrari from Lotus in mid-2013 after designing the surprisingly quick car that took Kimi Rikknen to victory in the 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

One of the most significant additions may turn out to be Sauber refugee Esteban Gutirrez who joined the team last week as a test and third driver. His on-track contribution may not be huge, but his deep-pocketed Mexican backers' may be key to helping Ferrari get back on top.

Two-time world champion Alonso, who drove to 11 wins in his five years at Ferrari and used his massive talent to almost steal two titles from Vettel despite an underperforming car, believes that's just what will happen.

"I think what they missed [in my] five years is just some more performance in the car, and technical resources, Alonso said last week.

They have the talented people, they have the resources, they have the motivation from everybody in the team, so in time they will win. With the budget they have, next year they will be favourites.

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F1 considering 1,000 HP engines as Ferrari cleans house