I follow F1 sometimes. As I remeber and even currently, the V configureation will allow the center of gravity to be lower. I think Renault was using 72 degrees a couple of years back.
The V-6's were turbo charged and I think 1.6L. They also ran 3L V-8 normally asperated or v-12s. Then they did away with the turbos. I think Honda McLaren winning constantly was the reason. Honda and Ferrrari went with V-12's and Williams/Renault went with a V-10. The V-10 was camless and pnuematically actuated. Honda still won, but Ferrari had a good run. When Nigel Mansell change from Ferrari to Williams/Renault they finally put some resourses behind that team and won the Championship.
To my understanding, they decreased the displacement from 3.0L to 1.6L for the normally asperated engines. So the engineers made up for the loss of HP, by spinning the engine faster.
Tom