It is not true that small teams equipped with Cosworth engines next year will enjoy an unfair technical advantage. That is the insistence of Williams' Patrick Head, amid a recent controversy between FOTA teams and the FIA about formula one's mandatory 18,000rpm rev limit.

The FIA is proposing that, with Cosworth returning to F1 in 2010 as a supplier of cut-price engines to independent teams, the British engine maker be allowed to run with unlimited revs. Cosworth last raced in F1 with Williams in 2006, when its 2.4 litre V8 on occasion surpassed the 20,000rpm barrier.

But while a 2,000rpm bonus might seem like a huge advantage for new entrants US F1, Campos and Manor next year, Head insists other drawbacks of the Cosworth will more than offset the benefit. The Briton insists F1's FOTA teams should have "no fear" of the four-year-old Cosworth, while FIA president Max Mosley worries that with a rev-limit, the engine will be sorely off the pace.

“The [2006] Cosworth engine uses clearly more fuel than the current engines,” Head is quoted as saying by Auto Motor und Sport. “The cars will have to carry 15 kilograms more [fuel] for a race distance. That means half a second on the lap time and higher tyre wear,” he added.

Source: GMM