Sebastian Vettel’s Singapore Grand Prix engine is available to use again, after the Maranello team found it escaped damage in the first-lap crash, Autosport has learned. Vettel’s contact with Max Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen off the line in Singapore caused sidepod and cooler damage, with the car spinning on its own fluids on the next straight, hitting the wall and retiring.
Having examined the unit at Maranello, Ferrari feels the engine – the third of Vettel’s allocation – can remain in the pool to be used again if required in the remaining six races. The news is significant as it reduces the chances of SebastianVettel having to take a grid penalty later in the season for engine component changes.
The two Scuderia Ferrari drivers, Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, have so far used three internal combustion engines, MGU-Hs, MGU-Ks, energy stores and control electronics and four turbochargers. A further change of the turbocharger would spark a 10-place grid penalty as it would exceed their respective allocations. It is believed that Scuderia Ferrari is hoping to introduce its next specification of engine at the upcoming race, the 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix, which means that Sebastian and Kimi will most likely move onto the fourth and final unit of their allocation.
With a new oil burn limit of 0.9 litres per 100km coming into force from the Italian Grand Prix until the end of the 2017 Formula One season, the Maranello team will need to run at the lower limit when it introduces its new unit. On the other hand, as Mercedes introduced its new engine at Spa in Belgium, one race before Italy, it is allowed to keep burning 1.2 litres of oil per 100km should it wish to do so.
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