Supertec Teams "struggling".

Williams, Benetton and British American Racing have called for more power from their Supertec engines in an attempt to match the best on offer in Formula One.


Although both Williams - with Ralf Schumacher - and Benetton (Giancarlo Fisichella) scored points in Australia, their teams realise that this was due more to the rate of attrition in the race than the performance of their engines. The 1999-spec Supertec is perhaps as much as 30kg heavier than the leading engines in F1 this season, and the lack of power from the units further hampers the efforts of the respective drivers.

"It's a good honest engine," admitted Sir Frank Williams, "but we need more power. We're still about six or seven kph slower than the Ferrari at the end of the main straight."


The units - which derive from Renault's last F1 engine - are unlikely to receive dramatic development at the season progresses, leaving teams to find other ways of catching up with the category's pace-makers.