The invention is directed to an apparatus for controlling the operating characteristic quantities of an internal combustion engine. The apparatus includes a characteristic field for pre-controlling engine variables influencing the operating characteristic quantities. The characteristic field is made up of the operating characteristic quantities. The apparatus further includes a control arrangement for controlling to maximum power output of the engine. The control arrangement is superposed on the pre-control and includes means for determining corrective values from the control loop in a predetermined operating range of the engine. The corrective values are applied to influence all of the pre-control values of the characteristic field over all operating ranges. With the apparatus of the invention, it is possible in a simple manner to consider changes in the surrounding factors that influence the engine. Two embodiments are described wherein the control is achieved by means of an optimizer and the engine is controlled to maximum power in either the part-load range or the full-load range of the engine. The apparatus of the invention can be used, for example, in air-fuel mixture metering, charging air control, control of exhaust gas return or also idle control.