Each driver may use a maximum of eight engines this season. Anything beyond that and they get a ten-place grid penalty per additional engine. With just four races remaining, most drivers are getting near the end of their allocation, meaning reliability will play an increasingly important role as the 2009 campaign approaches its finale.
Below is a list of how many new engines each driver has used thus far. If you drive a Renault, or have a Ferrari V8 behind you, then things are looking pretty rosy. If your name is Vettel, however, then you are probably slightly worried. The one unknown, of course, is how many of each driver’s used engines is still useable - and how much life each has left in it…
McLaren-Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton - 7
Heikki Kovalainen - 7
Ferrari
Giancarlo Fisichella - 6
Kimi Raikkonen - 6
I am guessing each engine is fully rebuilt after each race, right?
No, that's the thing. If they were, then they could go on indefinitely. The engines have to last more than one race, without rebuilds, as a supposed cost control measure.
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Wow, didn't know that. I would have thought that at a minimum, they would measure and inspect parts for impending failure, or stretch, like head bolts and connecting rods.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jerk_chicken
Wow, didn't know that. I would have thought that at a minimum, they would measure and inspect parts for impending failure, or stretch, like head bolts and connecting rods.
Each driver may use a maximum of eight engines this season. Anything beyond that and they get a ten-place grid penalty per additional engine. With just four races remaining, most drivers are getting near the end of their allocation, meaning reliability will play an increasingly important role as the 2009 campaign approaches its finale.
The teams use an engine for apx 2 races, and there are 4 races left on the calendar The Official Formula 1 Website
Vettel recently had 2 faulty Renault engines blow up on him, and will have to use a 9th engine / incur a ten grid penalty to finish the season.
Cheers
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Well, that's what he gets for using a Renault powerplant! If you want to be competitive in F1 in the current time period, you use Ferrari or Mercedes power. Case closed.
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