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Author Topic: What Constitutes an Engine Change?  (Read 4012 times)

Offline Bobbsy

What Constitutes an Engine Change?
« on: June 22, 2015, 09:04:22 AM »
Hi all!  I'm going to make what sounds like a silly question for my first post...but bear with me.

What constitutes an engine change?

A Formula 1 engine is made up of hundreds of different parts.  Could a team, for example, take the basic block, install all new pistons, valves, timing chains, etc. etc. and call it the same engine?  Or does changing any single component count as a change (unlikely)?

With all the penalties flowing for exceeding the number of engines (which, for me, are ruining the races) I've been curious about how much work can be done on an engine before it counts as a change.



Offline F1fanaticBD

Re: What Constitutes an Engine Change?
« Reply #1 on: June 22, 2015, 03:11:26 PM »
First of all welcome to the forum, I hope you will enjoy your time here. Please do post any question, we are not experts, but definitely together we will come to some conclusion  :D

According to the engine regulation there are two type of component, one including a seal from FIA, other excluding the seal. A team will incur penalty if they replace the component with seal, while other components without seal can be replaced without penalty. I think engine penalty may be imposed if a team uses more than those allocated components, which might have happened with McLaren, and inevitably going to happen Renault this season.

The list pretty long, so restraining from posting it  ;)

Hope it gives you some food for thought
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Offline Scott

Re: What Constitutes an Engine Change?
« Reply #2 on: June 22, 2015, 03:40:29 PM »
Hey Bobbsy...welcome to GPW. 

I believe the engine change counted as soon as they either change the main block or do anything that causes them to open the header, like changing pistons or any other internal components.  Water pumps, oil pumps and things like that don't constitute an engine change though.

There are likely others here who will correct me...

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Online cosworth151

Re: What Constitutes an Engine Change?
« Reply #3 on: June 22, 2015, 04:06:45 PM »
Howdy, Bobbsy. Glad to have you here.

As BD & Scott said, I think the term generally refers to what is commonly known as a "long block."
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Offline Ian

Re: What Constitutes an Engine Change?
« Reply #4 on: June 23, 2015, 09:09:07 AM »
Hiya Bobbsy, good to have you here. Have no fear, as soon as our resident encyclopedia called Ali sees this all will be explained.
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Offline John S

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Re: What Constitutes an Engine Change?
« Reply #5 on: June 23, 2015, 02:21:05 PM »
Hi Bobbsy, good to have you as a new member.  :good: I'm sure you'll enjoy this fantastic forum as much as the rest of us.

Both BD and Scott are correct, however I believe you can change even some parts of the sealed ICE for reliability reasons. The FIA will need to supervise the replacement work if approval is given to break the seal. This is illustrated in the screen shot below, courtesy Matt Somerfield posting onThejudge13.com, it spells out what Honda changed on Jen's & Nando's sealed ICEs in Bahrain.

This is indeed a tricky subject to pin down Bobbsy, you also have to consider the MGU-H, MGU-K and Turbo when talking about engine changes, the whole thing is now referred to as the Power Unit, PU for short, by the FIA regs. The 1.6 engine is now given the mnemonic ICE for internal combustion engine.

They can swap the individual sections of the PU between the allotted 4 total units, so for instance the 2nd ICE can be coupled to the 1st MGU-H, MGU-K and Turbo. - and so on until the total of 4 is exceeded for any separate section and then penalties start.       

« Last Edit: June 23, 2015, 02:23:27 PM by John S »
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Offline Alianora La Canta

Re: What Constitutes an Engine Change?
« Reply #6 on: June 23, 2015, 09:25:25 PM »
Welcome to GP Wizard, Bobbsy, and hope you enjoy contributing to the community here :D

You have a good question, and the answer may not be entirely intuitive.

Things you can't do without it being called an engine change:

Change any of the below:

Turbo
- turbo

Internal Combustion Engine
- cam covers
- cylinders
- crankcases
- gear cases
- anything else considered a sub-assembly within a sealed engine

Compressor Equipment
- anything involved in pressurising things within the engine

Motor Generator Unit (either)
- any part of either energy recovery system that is neither a mechanical part for transmitting power nor a mount

Energy Store
- batteries
- clamps
- connectors/cables between batteries

Possibly anywhere depending on individual engine design
- programmable semiconductors in an engine electronics device (unless they are in the standard ECU)
- high power switching devices in an engine electronics device (unless they are in the standard ECU)
- anything supporting a programmable semiconductor or a high powered switching device in an engine electronics device (unless they are in the standard ECU)

- any repair to the above that could call into question its being identical in nature to the original component

- any repair to the above that involves patching or other tool-based work not possible in a parc fermé environment. Percussive maintenance is fine

Changing any other parts of the engine (and there are a lot) is perfectly fine.

Major repairs to any other parts of the engine, even those involving the engine leaving the parc fermé environment, is fine (though it would have to be monitored to avoid getting a separate penalty for breaching parc fermé rules).

Opening a seal to inspect the engine is definitely fine, provided the correct paperwork is done first.

Breaking a seal to remove the engine, do a silly dance with it and putting it back without modification is fine. Whether your driver will appreciate "their" engine being treated that way is a separate question.

Anything outside the sealed area except for the casing is automatically not an engine component, but for the purposes of the rule many components within the engine aren't engine components either.

(So, to answer the question Bobbsy posed, "install all new pistons, valves, timing chains, etc" would get it classed as a new ICE... ...but so would changing exactly one piston, or even welding one piston in parc fermé with the appropriate paperwork to fix it).

As John S states, the ICE (internal combustion engine), MGU-H (motor generator unit - heat), MGU-K (motor generator unit - kinetic) and Turbo are counted separately. The ES (energy store) and CE (compressor equipment) are also counted separately and have a 4-component limit.

Appendix 2 of the Technical Regulations has a nice colourful table of what counts and what doesn't for each of the six major regulations the FIA applies to the engine in general.
« Last Edit: June 23, 2015, 09:27:51 PM by Alianora La Canta »
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