Engine change for Kimi?

[manchild]

Raikkonen cautious on engine situation

By Pablo Elizalde Wednesday, March 28th 2007, 11:59 GMT

Kimi RaikkonenKimi Raikkonen is staying cautious about his prospects for the Malaysian Grand Prix, as he is still unsure if he will need an engine change that weekend.

The Ferrari driver took a dominant win at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, but he had to slow down in the final stages of the race after the team found a water leakage in his engine.

The Italian squad will check the power unit before the next race in Malaysia, where high temperatures are expected to put an extra stress on it, and then decide if it needs changing.

If the engine is replaced, Raikkonen will be hit with a penalty that will relegate him ten places on the grid.

And although the Finn is hopeful no engine change will be needed, he remains cautious.

"I think we used the full potential for most of the race but we had a small water leak in the engine so the engine was getting hot, and we had to cool it down," Raikkonen told autosport.com after testing at Sepang. "Hopefully it is okay.

"The engine has been checked, we need to see what we do. We will decide on Friday or Saturday. We are trying to look at the situation.

"We have to wait and see on Saturday. So far the engine is okay but we will see," he added.

Despite his dominant win in Melbourne, Raikkonen is not getting carried away, and reckons anything can happen in the next race in Malaysia.

"I don't know, I think so. We have a good package, we were very strong in the last race but you never know... We were unlucky as a team in the last race.

"Anything can happen. We have to work hard and try to improve our times, then we will be in a position to fight for the win."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/57665

Season 2005 reloaded for Kimi - most powerful engine that can't last two races.

[Deano_266]

i reckon hell play it safe in bahrain and go for a new engine especially with all the heat stress on the engines

[Phoenix]

Say they change the engine when they get to the race. Can Kimi then qualify and get poll and just get docked the 10 positions? Because if he is anywhere in the ballpark as fast as he was last race, I think he would be fine, and would be able to catch up to the leader.

[DaveKillens]

Say they change the engine when they get to the race. Can Kimi then qualify and get poll and just get docked the 10 positions? Because if he is anywhere in the ballpark as fast as he was last race, I think he would be fine, and would be able to catch up to the leader.

That can work, but why pull the trigger so quickly? Just keep and monitor the present engine. If it has to be changed, the later the better. Use the engine up, drive the snot out of it in qualifying, then do a change if required. Then not only do you have a fresh engine, but one with less duty cycles.
Just about exactly the same time last season, Ferrari had isssues with it's engines, and changed Massa's, as well as the two customer engines. With the exception of Japan, Ferrari are pretty good at keeping the engines alive.

[ferrarigp]

yep, ferrari engines dont blow that often.

ANyone know how much time it would take them to change the engine?

This is because it could be significant in qualifying.

If it stops or becomes unstable at the end of Q1, then maybe it can be changed before the end of Q2?

[allan]

If it stops or becomes unstable at the end of Q1, then maybe it can be changed before the end of Q2?

are u serious man? It's impossible to change an engine within 10 minutes... it take from 90 to 150 minutes , at least, to change the damn thing

[Saribro]

I imagined 3 options, in order of increasing engine damage:
1)No mentionable damage, bussiness as usual, tralalie
2)Run friday with another engine (as per the new regulations) and run as much as possible to get the set-up right. Skip saturday practice and go on as per usual from there.
3)Use the current engine on saturday, set it to absolute max for qualifying so you can run with a higher fuel load and still have a shot at pole. Take the enginechange penalty and start 11th with a still competitive race-plan.

But who knows, we'll see how they handle it in a day or 10 :).

[bizadfar]

Raikkonen cautious on engine situation

By Pablo Elizalde Wednesday, March 28th 2007, 11:59 GMT

Kimi RaikkonenKimi Raikkonen is staying cautious about his prospects for the Malaysian Grand Prix, as he is still unsure if he will need an engine change that weekend.

The Ferrari driver took a dominant win at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, but he had to slow down in the final stages of the race after the team found a water leakage in his engine.

The Italian squad will check the power unit before the next race in Malaysia, where high temperatures are expected to put an extra stress on it, and then decide if it needs changing.

If the engine is replaced, Raikkonen will be hit with a penalty that will relegate him ten places on the grid.

And although the Finn is hopeful no engine change will be needed, he remains cautious.

"I think we used the full potential for most of the race but we had a small water leak in the engine so the engine was getting hot, and we had to cool it down," Raikkonen told autosport.com after testing at Sepang. "Hopefully it is okay.

"The engine has been checked, we need to see what we do. We will decide on Friday or Saturday. We are trying to look at the situation.

"We have to wait and see on Saturday. So far the engine is okay but we will see," he added.

Despite his dominant win in Melbourne, Raikkonen is not getting carried away, and reckons anything can happen in the next race in Malaysia.

"I don't know, I think so. We have a good package, we were very strong in the last race but you never know... We were unlucky as a team in the last race.

"Anything can happen. We have to work hard and try to improve our times, then we will be in a position to fight for the win."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/57665

Nice article. But in 2005, Mercedes was not the most powerful engine...

Season 2005 reloaded for Kimi - most powerful engine that can't last two races.



The tactics you guys are describing are similar to 2005 monza with exception to the friday rule

[tooshaggy]

The rules being what they are this year, can't they use a fresh engine during practice, and switch to the "used lump" for qually and the race--- and NOT get docked positions???

[mx_tifoso]

yes, they can do that, use a fresh engine on friday, and save the "used" one for qualy and the race, but thats not the problem, the concern is that even after saving it from running on friday, the engine might not last the entire race, you never want to have a blown engine, as we might all know allready, i imagine kimi will lead the entire race, so it would be very sad for his engine to fail before the finish line, thats the risk of using the current engine for the malaysian gp, if its that badly damaged, and only ferrari engineers know that

in case the engine is too damaged and might not last the entire race, ferrari should definately change the engine in kimi's car, after qualifying that is, too save it from as much running as possible, as someone else commented already


Scuderia Ferrari WCC 2007

[LongJohnSilver]

What many of you are forgetting is that a post qualifying engine change isn't a 10 spot penalty, its straight to the back!

Should a driver use a replacement engine after the qualifying practice session, he will be required to
start the relevant race from the back of the starting grid in accordance with Article 36.2c).

Theres no point in qualifying if you are gonna change the engine afterwards .This means the team has 1 session (FP3 on Sat morning) to determine if it needs to be changed. If they do change it, then he can go take pole and drop to 11th.

btw, looks like a great forum. Been reading for a few weeks now and decided to come out and speak up!

[icef1mkd]

I was wondering....was Kimi running that same "suspicious" engine the last two days at Sepang?

[mx_tifoso]

I was wondering....was Kimi running that same "suspicious" engine the last two days at Sepang?

I dont believe so, as it most surely wouldnt survive after so much usage, it would probably be way past its life cycle,
and plus, its not a race engine, during testing they specifically use test engines, im sure they wouldnt be having this debacle over engine health for the next race after being used for a few days in the blistering heat in malaysia, considering the problem at hand for the engine was water leakage causing insuficient cooling, thus leading to above normal temperatures,and possible internal damage
it most definately wouldnt be in proper conditions to race,or more importantly, to finish

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
And btw, welcome to the forum LongJohnSilver, im sure you'll enjoy becoming a member


Scuderia Ferrari 2007 WCC

[Ian P.]

If Ferrari follows the logical plan they would run Friday on a practice engene (obvious choice) then like all other teams change the engine for Saturday.
If the potentially suspect engine shows signs of damage in the practice sessions it would be changed prior to Q-1.
I expect that Kimi will not have any trouble getting through to Q-2 so that effectively becomes a test session.
My question is......
Knowing he will get a 10 place penalty, can he go out in Q-3 on effectively empty tanks and blitz the field. ??
Then when he gets put back to 11th place the car can be fueled as they like.
It seems too simple and begs the question why it hasn't been done before. It gets him as high on the grid as possible, fuel to go as far as he wants and all the publicity of winning pole.

[LongJohnSilver]

If Ferrari follows the logical plan they would run Friday on a practice engene (obvious choice) then like all other teams change the engine for Saturday.
If the potentially suspect engine shows signs of damage in the practice sessions it would be changed prior to Q-1.
I expect that Kimi will not have any trouble getting through to Q-2 so that effectively becomes a test session.
My question is......
Knowing he will get a 10 place penalty, can he go out in Q-3 on effectively empty tanks and blitz the field. ??
Then when he gets put back to 11th place the car can be fueled as they like.
It seems too simple and begs the question why it hasn't been done before. It gets him as high on the grid as possible, fuel to go as far as he wants and all the publicity of winning pole.

I am fairly certain that he would have to start the race on his Qualifying fuel even if he is dropped out of the top ten. The fuel rules apply to those who start Q3, not the top 10 on the grid.