FERRARI: Engine Problem Uncovered And Fixed

Ferrari are confident that their engine problems that marred their Australian Grand Prix were a one-off, after getting to the bottom of what caused their dramas in Melbourne.

The Italian team suffered a double engine failure on Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen's cars at Albert Park, and flew the power units back to their Maranello base for analysis of what caused the malfunctions.

This work has established that the higher-than-expected temperatures in Australia contributed to a fuel-feel problem, which in turn led to a failure of the intake valves of the engines.

A Ferrari spokesman told autosport.com in Malaysia: "It was a fuel-feed problem partly related to the hot temperatures in Melbourne. It provoked a failure of the intake valve on both engines.

"It wasn't a quality control problem, nor was it a cooling problem. Obviously, you can't change these engines so we will work hard on improving the mapping, but we're confident this was a one-off."

Ferrari have also rubbished any talk that their problems were related to the introduction of the standard ECU in Formula One this year.

"It was not an ECU problem, although the new units do mean we have to learn new methods to operate the engine," added the spokesman.

 

Let us hope so..

I'am glad this issue has been cleared up..

 

Now all we need to worry about is Massa keeping his car on the road

 

So they know the issue but no mention anything about this weekend's grand prix. I'm assuming they already have different plans to deal with the heat in Malaysia.

 

It time to chill the gas! Oops that is not allowed.

 

And here I always was told that if you went lean it would burn up the EXHAUST valves???

EDIT - well, with the overlap these engines must have, what would be the difference?

 

I have a problem with the "One off" statement, yet both engines failed. Hmmm....

 

Intake valve failing before exhaust valve due to engine lean????????

 

According to this, some believe it may be aero related.

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/080320091855.shtml

 

Hmm very interesting.

The only reason I can think aero could cause engine failure is lack of cooling of something (fuel pump perhaps? or electrics)

We'll probably never know... lets hope it IS fixed and we have a great race with 3 or 4 teams fighting for the pole!

 

Maybe they're relying on the intake air to help cool the valves?

 

What about the other four Ferrari lumps in the contest - of which none finished? How deep is the shared information?

 

Depends on the script.

 

Ferrari is always cloak and dagger regards fault's.

As I'am aware the ECU can be placed anywhere in the car (I stand to be corrected though).

One could jump to the conclusion that they would be quick to blame "Mclarens" ECU , but on the other hand if they had changed aero related stuff recently, they may have over looked the ECU recommended working temp's ie overheating it, and sure would not want to admit to that..

Whatever the problem Ferrari had will be shrouded in as much secrecy as possible, Why would they admit that their overall aerodynamics, including airflow over electronic components was at fault!

Just my 2 pence worth..

 

Sorry I lost the plot a bit, but:

Any 10 spot penalties due for engine changes or were all the failures recoverable with the existing engine?

I'm also wondering about the other 4 Ferrari powered cars. At least one looked like a definite blow up.

 

I think not as it is something to do with it being the first race.. not 100% though.

PS or could be Engine replacement penalties - The ten-place grid penalty for changing a two-race engine remains, but drivers will not incur that penalty for a first offence.

 

I thought a DNF was penalty enough and therefore you didn't face a grid penalty if the engine caused you to lose the race?

 

Hmm, you might be right.

Hmm, you might be right.


Isn't it silly that we don't even know for sure? I was waiting for the Speed commentators to shed some light on this, but they never did. But I guess the silence in the press indicates there is no 10 spot penalty.

 

If the car DNF due to the engine failure, then there will not be a penalty to change the engine before the next race.

 

Thanks.

Interesting wording. That might explain why Ferrari actually came out and said they had an engine failure. What if the reason for the DNF was something different (e.g. fuel pump failure), but in the process you discover you also had an issue with your valves and while the engine still was running you can tell it wouldn't make it through another entire race weekend? Better to declare it an engine failure upfront then.

 

I don't think it has to be specifically an engine failure. As long as you DNF, you can change the engine.

Also, you get the first engine change of the year free if you have to change in a non-DNF situation.

 

Ok, thanks!

I wish they had mentioned that during the race. It was painful enough to watch one Ferrari after another to DNF, but then I was thinking about Sepang and how all 6 cars would be relegated to the back (well, at least 4, 2 live there by default ).

 

I sadly think you are right. Speed or anyone else isnt saying anything because nobody seems to know what exactly is happening. The rules are being constantly tweeked not only after each race but during the races and that bothers me. In any other sport everyone seems to know what is going on each season before each game but in F1 it seems not even the FIA dosnt know whats going on untill the race is over......or do they? Hmmmmm

 

Given the fuel chilling controversy at Interlagos you have a point. It was ridiculous that a) two different temperatures were measured officially and that b) a rule was brought up that has been violated all season long (the fuel temp being measured at the nozzle where there actually isn't a sensor).

It does seem that the FIA is making some of the stuff up as they go along. Latest example is the scrutineering over the Red Bulls: The cars passed a crash test, that should be good enough for the FIA.

 

+1

Have they moved to having permanent stewards at the race or are they still using local stewards at each track? That has always been a source of confusion and controversy.