Engine Problem Solved?

By Ian Lockwood
March 22 2006

According to team Principal Jean Todt, Ferrari are close to finding a solution to the engine problem that has plagued Red Bull & Ferrari start to the season. The diminutive Frenchman is confident that the problems will not re-occur at the Melbourne Grand Prix.

Both Red Bull Racing and Ferrari suffered from considerable engine problems during pre-season testing. Red Bull's issues were largely attributed to a cooling deficiency, but even when that had been remedied, running during the final tests was hampered.

Things hadn't improved when the season got underway, with Coulthard suffering an engine failure on the slow down lap of the season opener in Bahrain. Things went from bad to worse in Malaysia, with Michael Schumacher taking a precautionary engine change, whilst team mate Massa was forced to change his Ferrari power unit twice before the start of the race. These unscheduled engine changes resulted in a cumulative penalty of 40 grid position demotions for the Ferrari powered teams in one race! 

Ferrari have now confirmed that the problem was down to the pistons within the engine cracking. The new units that were fitted in Malaysia were of a different spec to the original Bahrain engines.
"I think we already did one step forward," Todt told reporters, '"I think we've understood a lot of things.

'"We have a specific failure that comes from the (pistons, but) at the moment we are still analysing the problems"