BMW will surely face an engine penalty

Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica have been warned. They risk a penalty in the last races because they will likely have to use a ninth engine. The team has indeed realized that the power units damaged at Monza are now unusable. The regulations allow eight engines per driver during the season. Each additional engine results in a 10-place grid penalty.

The two BMW drivers saw their respective engines stop during the Monza weekend qualifications. The team strongly hoped that the problem could be fixed to reuse them. Unfortunately for the BMW team, the analysis conducted at the Munich factory shows that the engines are definitively out of service. Therefore, the two BMW drivers only have one new engine block available for the remaining four races.

The BMW sporting director stated: « The engine problems encountered during the Monza qualifications are due to poor quality of the valve mechanism, which means we cannot use any of these engines again. Both drivers used the engines from the Spa-Francorchamps race at Monza. This leaves them with only one new engine each, and several already used ones for the rest of the season. The key question now is whether this will be sufficient. If not, we will be forced to use a ninth engine and will incur a ten-place penalty as a consequence. »

Despite this bad news on the engine front, BMW-Sauber has high hopes for a strong performance in Singapore next week, thanks to a major evolution of the car. The F1.09 will be equipped with a new front wing, a further development of the double diffuser, and a modified rear wing. The team will also introduce a new gearbox.

Mario Thiessen said: « We are looking forward to the race and will continue to push with a completely revised car. »

And Nick Heidfeld added: « I have been eagerly awaiting the Singapore race for several weeks because I know we will have some modifications for the weekend. Our simulations are very promising and the car will be competitive. »