What happens to engines when a manufacturer leaves?

[primatives]

Hey guys,

Curious as to what happens to the F1 engines when a manufacturer leaves? Do they remove all the engines or does it stay with the team? Say in Red Bulls case when they switched from Renault to Honda would they remove all the engines so the new manufacturer can't look at the engines to try and learn something from it?

Thanks!

[Just_a_fan]

Red Bull's Renault engines belonged to Renault and were just supplied to them as and when required. They will have gone back to Renault once they weren't required for a car.

Even the customer teams such as Williams using Mercedes lumps don't own the engine, they just rent it, effectively.

[Jolle]

At most teams, the PU is strictly handled by engineers of the engine manufacturer. Most of the times in the factory the teams have to work with mock-ups.
When a season is over or when they switch manufacturer, or when a car is used for promotional runs, they get converted to a much cheaper and reliable engine like a Judd, Cosworth or Meccachrome unit. That’s also why you almost never see turbo powered promo cars at exhibitions runs (not from the eighties or the modern days).

There are a few exceptions. McLaren still has some of the eighties Hondas and they do run a Mercedes V8 for the winner of the British new driver award.

[El Scorchio]

As far as I know as well, the supplier embeds a couple of people in the customer team as well, so they are dressed like, say, Alfa team members but they are actually Ferrari staff who’s job is to take care of all things engine related, and they are kept a little separate and vice versa.

Edit: Actually- I might have got the 'dressed as' bit the wrong way round. They may remain in (for example) Ferrari garb but are in the Alfa garage. Nevertheless, there are a few non customer team staff in the garage.

[Hoffman900]

It is this way in NASCAR, IMSA, and just about any other pro series.

[Baulz]

Anyone know what the old Red Bull cars are using for engines? They seems to do a lot of demo runs.

[AtlasZX]

Anyone know what the old Red Bull cars are using for engines? They seems to do a lot of demo runs.

I found this video of the RB7 took this year, looks like the same Renault V8 from 2011.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9k4wjqdN5o

[Juzh]

Anyone know what the old Red Bull cars are using for engines? They seems to do a lot of demo runs.

Surely it must be renault engines. What else could it be? Hondas from 2008? I don't think that's the case.

[Jolle]

Anyone know what the old Red Bull cars are using for engines? They seems to do a lot of demo runs.

Surely it must be renault engines. What else could it be? Hondas from 2008? I don't think that's the case.

Probably Judd or F2 mechachrome engines. To use actual F1 engines for demo’s is not only expensive (not just the engine itself but also the amount of personal, amount of prep work, etc), it’s also almost impossible to slow so much down and have enough cooling.

[Juzh]

Anyone know what the old Red Bull cars are using for engines? They seems to do a lot of demo runs.

Surely it must be renault engines. What else could it be? Hondas from 2008? I don't think that's the case.

Probably Judd or F2 mechachrome engines. To use actual F1 engines for demo’s is not only expensive (not just the engine itself but also the amount of personal, amount of prep work, etc), it’s also almost impossible to slow so much down and have enough cooling.

The way that demo car sounds and performs (9.2s in 1/4 mile recently in carwow with bad launch on a drizzling concrete runway) there's no way it isn't a genuine f1 engine. Why would anyone want to throw an F2 engine in an F1 car . And red bull does carry an entire support fleet with that car, it's not like it's just turn it on and go. I'd say it's running a detuned renault unit that't been modified in some way for more reliability and easier cooling.

[adrianjordan]

Surely it must be renault engines. What else could it be? Hondas from 2008? I don't think that's the case.

Probably Judd or F2 mechachrome engines. To use actual F1 engines for demo’s is not only expensive (not just the engine itself but also the amount of personal, amount of prep work, etc), it’s also almost impossible to slow so much down and have enough cooling.

The way that demo car sounds and performs (9.2s in 1/4 mile recently in carwow with bad launch on a drizzling concrete runway) there's no way it isn't a genuine f1 engine. Why would anyone want to throw an F2 engine in an F1 car . And red bull does carry an entire support fleet with that car, it's not like it's just turn it on and go. I'd say it's running a detuned renault unit that't been modified in some way for more reliability and easier cooling.

https://i.imgur.com/wmXATkO.jpg

Well McLaren put a GP2 Honda engine in their F1 car that time