Ferrari believe they have solved the engine problems which had threatened to jeopardise Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa's chances of Formula One success this season.

Alonso has seen his stock of eight permitted engines this season already fall to two following mechanical problems during the first four races of the season.

The problems have been repeated at the Ferrari-powered Sauber team, but the Italian manufacturer now believes it has corrected a fault affecting the pneumatic valves.

They have now made corrections to the remaining engines with the permission of the FIA.

"A lot of work was carried out on the test bench, completing several long runs and this work produced some solutions which it is felt will solve the reliability problems experienced in Bahrain and Malaysia," read a Ferrari statement.

"The team therefore requested and received authorisation from the FIA to make some changes within the framework of the current engine regulations and these modifications will be fitted to the engines to be used in Spain.

"While since China, everyone in the Gestione Sportiva has been working hard as always on their various areas of activity.

"It is fair to say that over the past weeks, the staff in the engine department really produced a major effort, working night and day to analyse, evaluate and solve issues that have affected engine performance in past races."

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