Let's Deliberately Destroy the Engine!

[Rollo]

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/06042008/58/lewis-blame-alonso.html


McLaren boss Ron Dennis said that the team turned Hamilton's power down after the Alonso incident as he had little chance of a points finish.

"Lewis's bad start and the incident with Fernando, which extensively damaged his car, seriously hampered his pace, and we then took the early decision to save the engine for the next race in Barcelona," said Dennis.

Why?

I make reference to the 2005 German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring when Kimi deliberately jammed his foot to the floor and blew his engine to pieces to prove a point to the Mercedes people at their home GP (that the engine was crap and they needed to do better). The telemetry from the race shows Kimi's engine go to about 23,000 revs before it cataclysmically ate it itself.

http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr743.html

and Kimi no doubt said something rude in Finnish
Actually he said something rude in English during the telecast.

What's to stop someone tactically from doing likewise? If you had no chance of scoring points, wouldn't it make sense to score a fresh engine for the next race?
If I was a dirver and I knew that the best I was going to do was come in 9th, then I'd deliberately find a way of braking engine just so I could exploit the rule.

So why not?

[ShiftingGears]

Moronic rev limiting rule prevents that kind of overrevving!

[jso1985]

cause you never know if the 8 cars ahead of you are gonna last to end of the race or not... plus when BAR did that(sort of) in Australia 2005 they were highly criticized for doing that as it was not so "sporty"

And as long as I remember Kimi retired with an Hydraulic problem at the 2005 German GP, and the article doesn't tell anything about him breaking the engine on purpose.

[SteveA]

Moronic rev limiting rule prevents that kind of overrevving!

It might be possible to change down the gears and cause the engine to over-rev.

[wedge]

You're allowed a free engine change this year

[wedge]

It might be possible to change down the gears and cause the engine to over-rev.

Rev limiter

[Rollo]

Even with a rev-limiter you can still overrev the engine by downshifting at too high a speed. Going from 6th to 1st in a single shot might do it.

[Mikeall]

Why? There could have been reliability problems for other cars or safety car periods. Anything could have happened so its worth staying in the race.

[wmcot]

I make reference to the 2005 German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring when Kimi deliberately jammed his foot to the floor and blew his engine to pieces to prove a point to the Mercedes people at their home GP (that the engine was crap and they needed to do better). The telemetry from the race shows Kimi's engine go to about 23,000 revs before it cataclysmically ate it itself.



How about the 2005 Bahrain GP?

[ioan]

Going from 6th to 1st in a single shot might do it.

And how exactly can you achieve that with a sequential gear box?!

[Mark]

Exactly, besides the electronics are smart enough to recognise that and prevent the driver from doing it. It's pretty difficult to deliberately lunch an engine these days. And if the FIA know you've done it then you won't get a free engine change.

[SteveA]

Maybe Kimi thought he was pressing the "launch" button, but in fact it was the "lunch" button.

[Knock-on]

Even if you could lunch the engine by downshifting, you would wreck the gearbox which also has to last several races.

Only thing you can do is turn down the wick as they did.

[Azumanga Davo]

How about the 2005 Bahrain GP?

That's an oilfield, isn't it? :s

[ottostreet]

it was the 2004 bahrain gp kimi did that at.

2005 Bahrain GP:
1st: Fernando Alonso
2nd: Jarno Trulli
3rd: Kimi Raikkonen

[Tazio]

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/06042008/58/lewis-blame-alonso.html



Why?

I make reference to the 2005 German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring when Kimi deliberately jammed his foot to the floor and blew his engine to pieces to prove a point to the Mercedes people at their home GP (that the engine was crap and they needed to do better). The telemetry from the race shows Kimi's engine go to about 23,000 revs before it cataclysmically ate it itself.

http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr743.html

Actually he said something rude in English during the telecast.

What's to stop someone tactically from doing likewise? If you had no chance of scoring points, wouldn't it make sense to score a fresh engine for the next race?
If I was a dirver and I knew that the best I was going to do was come in 9th, then I'd deliberately find a way of braking engine just so I could exploit the rule.

So why not?

I just think it’s a tactical solution to having a fresher engine for the largest period of time you are in a position to score points. I don't necessarily agree with it. There was the chance that there could have been a SC situation. In that case they would fire that baby back up closer to its limit. Every time you change an engine, you are trying to get it to last 2 races. If each engine last's less than 2 (or even1) you’ve got problems. IMHO I think they should have run the engine the way they normally do, and if by the closing stages of the race Hamilton hadn't fought his way back into the points. Just drive it off the course, and start over again in Spain without a penalty.
I don't agree with the decision.
But Ron made it
And, Ron’s a genius! ;)