Internal combustion engine with a regulating device and at least one ignition device for igniting a fuel-air mixture in a piston/cylinder unit, whereby on the outlet side of the piston-cylinder unit, a turbocharger and a wastegate are provided, whereby via the wastegate an exhaust-gas turbine of the turbocharger can be flowed through, and whereby the exhaust-gas turbine drives a compressor arranged on the intake side of the piston-cylinder unit, whereby the regulating device, on detecting a predefined triggering condition, performs an adjustment of the ignition time and the opening degree of the wastegate, such that that the overall efficiency of the internal combustion engine is optimized, whereby the ignition time of the ignition device is brought by the regulating device to the optimal overall efficiency, and the opening degree of the wastegate is changed to provide the required output power of the internal combustion engine.