Italian Ferrari's Formula One team is to benefit from cutting-edge aerospace technology developed by Finmeccanica, the Italian engineering conglomerate with a long experience in planes and helicopters.

Ferrari and Finmeccanica Monday signed a collaboration accord which renews and widens an agreement which first signed in 1997.

Finmeccanica includes three companies whose research and development activity is expected to be of use to Ferrari: Alenia, which makes planes and has a stake in the new Eurofighter project; Agusta, which makes helicopters; and Aerospace company.

"Formula One cars are planes turned upside down," commented Ferrari Chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo.

"There's more aerospace technology than automobile technology involved," he added.

Technical experts from both companies explained how collaboration over the last two years had already altered the transmission system in Ferrari's Formula One cars.

In return for this help, Ferrari is also to offer technical assistance but more importantly it will allow its name to be used in connection with Finmeccanica when the group begins looking for investors next year.

Finmeccanica, currently 80 percent owned by the Italian government, is to sell of 50 percent of its share capital in a partial privatization by June 2000.