Webber gets engine boost for Korea

[John S]

Good call for Mark to bring his last fresh engine into play, with his points advantage he needs to score well here in Korea to keep infront of his rivals. The more he does in this race the less pressure in the last two for him.

Mark Webber's bid to seal a victory in the Korean Grand Prix that could help move him closer a maiden Formula 1 title has been boosted after he elected to take a fresh engine for the event on Friday night.

The Australian has had a new power unit in reserve ever since the Italian GP, when he was the only one out of the championship contenders who chose not to take a fresh engine for that race.

With the title chase now in a crucial phase, and power quite important for the long straights of the new Korean venue, Webber will now take his eighth and final engine for the rest of the weekend.

Although the advantage of a new engine will not make much of a difference in qualifying, it could provide him with a vital boost for the race because he will not be under as much pressure as his rivals to conserve it for future use.

Webber currently enjoys a 14-point advantage over team-mate Sebastian Vettel, and if he outscores him in Korea this weekend then he will only need to finish behind the German in the remaining two races to be sure of beating him in the standings.

Webber's engine situation puts him in a comfortable position for the final three races of the season - in contrast to Ferrari's Fernando Alonso who has been looking after his power-units ever since he lost engines earlier in the campaign.

By Jonathan Noble, Autosport.com, Today.

[lkjohnson1950]

If I wanted to watch drivers take care of their engines, I would watch endurance racing (which I do, love GTP). I would prefer they went to maybe 1 engine per race, not 4 races.

Lonny

[Jericoke]

If I wanted to watch drivers take care of their engines, I would watch endurance racing (which I do, love GTP). I would prefer they went to maybe 1 engine per race, not 4 races.

Lonny

I'm starting to wonder if the 1 engine per season rule is better than this.  There's nothing that really stops the manufacturers from making an F1 spec engine that lasts an entire season.  Sure, it'll be heavier, but all cars would have the same weight penalty, and we're still probably talking dozens of pounds at most.

With an engine freeze in place, it's not like there's any genuine advantage to when you use your engines: later ones aren't going to be any better.  There would have to be rules to allow for defective plants, large fines against the manufacturer, possible dismissal from the sport.  Or perhaps replacement engines get their limiter dropped 100 rpm?

[Warmwater]

I'm starting to wonder if the 1 engine per season rule is better than this.  Good idea Jerricoke.

Maybe allow top end overhauls after a couple of races and a major overhaul half way through the season. Repairs to gaskets, leaks, simple maintenance anytime. This would force improvements to engine design that would eventually filter down to our daily drivers.