Sauber’s Ferrari engine problems strange

After a dismal Montreal weekend for the Swiss team, boss Peter Sauber admitted the C29 car is not a good one.

But the 66-year-old has also been quoted indicating that he is not happy with the ongoing poor reliability of the customer Ferrari engine.

"Five problems with the Ferrari engine in eight races is unacceptable. At this rate we will need more than eight engines per driver for the season.

"We need better reliability," he is quoted by the Swiss newspaper Blick.

In Canada, Pedro de la Rosa’s race ended with an unspecified engine failure.

Earlier in 2010, both Sauber and the works team were struggling with poor reliability, but Maranello based Ferrari were given FIA clearance to implement a fix.

"Ferrari has solved its problems with the engines but Sauber has again had a failure," Ferrari test driver Marc Gene wrote in his post-Canada column for the Spanish newspaper El Mundo.

"It is an issue that will be analysed thoroughly by the team," he added.

"Two months ago there was a basic reason, but now ... it is very strange," wrote Gene. "They will need to work to analyse it with Ferrari."

The Spaniard seemed to indicate that Sauber’s ongoing engine problems are probably related to the C29 car.

"It is surprising that (Ferrari powered) Toro Rosso have never had a problem," said Gene.