Raikkonen to get New Ferrari Engine in Spain Following FP2 Issues

[Paul Jeffrey]

Ferrari have confirmed the engine of Kimi Räikkönen will be replaced ahead of qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix tomorrow.

With current Formula One rules stipulating that a gearbox and engine must run for six consecutive Grand Prix without being changed, or the driver must serve a grid place demotion, Ferrari have taken the opportunity to replace the engine, turbocharger and MGU-H overnight on Friday as a precaution following a mechanical failure for Kimi Räikkönen in the second Free Practice session of the Spanish Grand Prix weekend earlier this afternoon.

Normally a change of this kind outside of a consecutive six race run would result in a grid penalty for team and driver, however with Räikkönen having so far avoided the need to replace any of these parts during the opening rounds of the new season, the Ferrari team will avoid the need to serve any penalty on Sunday afternoon, keeping the newly resurgent Finnish driver very much in with a shout of a strong points haul in Barcelona.

Räikkönen ran in to trouble during FP2 earlier today when his Ferrari seemed to emit a puff of blue smoke from the rear of the car around the rear of the Circuit de Catalunya , causing some concerns on the Ferrari pit wall that the #7 scarlet car could be set for further trouble during the all important qualifying session on Saturday afternoon.

Without fear of suffering from a potentially disastrous grid penalty, the team have elected to replace the key power unit parts on Räikkönen's car, with a view to potentially salvaging some of the damaged hardware for circulation back on the car later in the season.

Räikkönen has appeared surprisingly off key this weekend, trailing outside of the top four for much of the running covered so far. With Ferrari keen to bounce back from a difficult Baku event, much of the teams hopes for a strong race on Sunday will rest on Räikkönen being able to mix it with the front runners right to the waving of the chequered flag, something that will be helped considerably by what is in effect a new power plant in the back of his so far this season impressive new SF71H.

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Can Räikkönen challenge for the podium / win in Barcelona? Should the penalty system for changed parts be revised in F1? Let us know your opinion in the comments section below!

 

[ears]

Normally a change of this kind outside of a consecutive six race run would result in a grid penalty for team and driver, however with Räikkönen having so far avoided the need to replace any of these parts during the opening rounds of the new season, the Ferrari team will avoid the need to serve any penalty on Sunday afternoon

I don't understand this. Surely there haven't been 6 rounds of the championship already?

This is the fifth right? So the parts didn't last 6 races.

 

[BP]

This really doesn't make any sense...Räikkönen avoided the need to replace parts during the opening rounds, but isn't that because the rules say you can't change them without a penalty? Then he changes them anyway before six rounds have passed and...no penalty? What am I missing?

 

[davewilliams000]

I thought it was only the gearbox that had to do 6 consecutive races. They can swap in engine components from a 'pool' but once you go over the total allowed for the year then you get penalties for every change. There's talk of them making the gearbox rules the same in future years to avoid as many penalties.

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/...-overhaul-to-lose-grid-penalties-1035077/?s=1

 

[rubaru]

What about after Spain GP? Did the new engine give up, now he needs a 3rd? This could be a dilemma for Ferrari, deciding which race to bring in 4th engine and take penalties.