Thursday, March 16, 2006
# posted by Rich @ 6:21 AM
Engine changes
After Fisichella's problems in Bahrain, the Renault team have said that they will furnish him with a new engine for Malaysia. This comes after the Renault team publicly apologised to Fisichella for the engine electronics problem that blighted Fisichella's race.
Elsewhere, according to itv-f1, Ferrari will change the engine in Massa's car because they are not sure his engine will last another race. Speedtv.com also report that Coulthard will have an engine change before the Malaysian race, following Coulthard's failure on the cool-down lap in Bahrain. This in my mind raises suspicions about the Ferrari engines in general.
Fisichella, Massa, and Coulthard will therefore be subject to a ten-spot grid penalty in Malaysia.
I personally am not a fan of the current engine-change rules, although I understand that the rule is designed to keep down costs. However I feel that it unfairly penalises drivers, when it is really the team (or engine manufacturer) who is to blame. Surely a system that penalises the team but not the driver would be better, but herein lies the problem - what penalty system could possibly achieve that?
Aside from a different penalty system, I would be a fan of a system of having a fixed number of engines to use per year (as opposed to saying that an engine has to last two races). For example, there are 18 races this year, half of 18 is 9, so say that each car is allowed 8 engines per year. The team could use them in any order, and use them for any number of races, provided that they didn't use more than 8 engines per year (this would necesitate that at least one engine would have to last for three races). The tactical implications of this are quite interesting, I think.
Elsewhere, according to itv-f1, Ferrari will change the engine in Massa's car because they are not sure his engine will last another race. Speedtv.com also report that Coulthard will have an engine change before the Malaysian race, following Coulthard's failure on the cool-down lap in Bahrain. This in my mind raises suspicions about the Ferrari engines in general.
Fisichella, Massa, and Coulthard will therefore be subject to a ten-spot grid penalty in Malaysia.
I personally am not a fan of the current engine-change rules, although I understand that the rule is designed to keep down costs. However I feel that it unfairly penalises drivers, when it is really the team (or engine manufacturer) who is to blame. Surely a system that penalises the team but not the driver would be better, but herein lies the problem - what penalty system could possibly achieve that?
Aside from a different penalty system, I would be a fan of a system of having a fixed number of engines to use per year (as opposed to saying that an engine has to last two races). For example, there are 18 races this year, half of 18 is 9, so say that each car is allowed 8 engines per year. The team could use them in any order, and use them for any number of races, provided that they didn't use more than 8 engines per year (this would necesitate that at least one engine would have to last for three races). The tactical implications of this are quite interesting, I think.
Labels: Formula 1
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