BAR Tested Honda V8 Engine Last Week

The engine rules are changing next year to a V8 2.4 litre format from the current V10s.

The smaller independent teams will be allowed to use V10s in 2006 and 2007, subject to a restriction on revs to be determined by the governing FIA.

Minardi have already announced they will keep using their Cosworth v10s next year.

BAR's test drivers Anthony Davidson and Enrique Bernoldi tested the first prototype of Honda's V8 engine at the Mugello circuit last week, reportedly lapping around four seconds slower than with the current power unit.

"It wasn't at any time a question of catching quick laptimes," BAR's technical director Geoff Willis said after the test. "Davidson before, and Bernoldi later, just ran to help us learn how this engine works and to control several parameters and technical details, and collect a lot of data in view of future, more complete tests.

"It is a very strange engine. Really low. Really, really low and shorter than usual, with a lack of power and a lower stroke curve compared to the actual V10, as logical.

"But it will still be a very interesting engine, in some ways more similar to a MotoGP engine than an actual F1 V10."