On first glance, the Scuderia look to be in fighting form in 2010.
The team have a 10-point lead in the constructors' championship, Felipe Massa is top of the drivers' standings, and teammate Fernando Alonso and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel are tied for second place. The F10 is known to be a strong car, fast in both qualifying and race. And thanks to a spark plug failure in Bahrain, the team were able to finish 1-2 in the first race of the season.
But rumours about the fuel efficiency of the Ferrari engine began during winter testing, and eyebrows were raised when both Massa and Alonso were fitted with new engines between the qualifying session and race in Bahrain.
If this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix was any indication, there are now serious concerns about the reliability of the Ferrari engine. Fernando Alonso was forced to retire on the penultimate lap, when all his power disappeared in a puff of smoke. His was the third Ferrari engine to fail at Sepang – both BMW Sauber Ferraris also retired with engine failure in Sunday's race.
The two teams' engine problems are not believed to be related, according to Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali. He told Autosport: "We don't know what is exactly the nature of Fernando's engine problem at the moment, and we don't know what is the situation on the Sauber's engines. But what I can say now, as far as the information I have, is that these problems are different."
Related or not, three engine failures in one weekend is cause for concern. Current FIA regulations mean that teams are restricted to eight engines per driver per season. To use additional engines leads to grid penalties, and could seriously affect the push for the championship at the end of the season. It is a situation Sebastian Vettel knows all too well – his 2009 season was overshadowed with the spectre of a ninth engine.
Fernando Alonso has used three new engines so far this season, and we are only three races in to a 19-event championship. One of those engines has suffered total failure, meaning the Spaniard now has five brand new engines and two used ones with which to complete the next 16 race weekends – practice session, qualifying, and the race itself.
At some point, the Scuderia will need to begin rationing the champion's Friday running in order to maximise engine options on a Sunday.
Ferrari's engine difficulties began in Bahrain. According to a press release the team released at the time, "[a]t 10am, when the FIA rules allow to work on the cars, the mechanics started to work on the F10 #7, replacing its engine. This is a completely precautionary step: the engine, used by Felipe Massa up to the qualifying yesterday afternoon shows, some abnormal parameters, but can still be used on the track, according to the applicable rules, during free practice sessions. The decision, taken last night, will not lead to any sanctions for the Brazilian driver, who will start from the first row." Alonso's engine was also changed as a precautionary measure.
The bad luck continued in Melbourne, and Alonso and Massa hit the track with new engines for the second race running.
As with everything associated with F1, the rules governing engine use are fairly complex. Some edited highlights from the FIA regulations: "28.4 a) Each driver may use no more than eight engines during a Championship season. Should a driver use more than eight engines he will drop ten places on the starting grid at the first Event during which each additional engine is used. If two such additional engines are used during a single Event the driver concerned will drop ten places on the starting grid at that Event and at the following Event. An engine will be deemed to have been used once the car’s timing transponder has shown that it has left the pit lane. [...] e) If an engine is changed in accordance with Article 34.1 (see below) the engine which was replaced may not be used during any future qualifying session or race with the exception of the last Event of the Championship."
What this means is that both Alonso and Massa do have the option of using their first engines of the season – the ones swapped out in Bahrain – but they can only do so at Abu Dhabi. And the source of the "abnormal parameters" that prompted the Scuderia to make the engine swap will affect the team's decision – can the engine be guaranteed to survive what could be a title-deciding season finale?
Either Ferrari driver could choose to use a new engine once the allocation of eight has been exhausted, but to do so would mean suffering ten-place grid penalties at two events. Both Massa and Alonso are able drivers, but no one needs an additional handicap when battling for the championship crown.
In what looks like it will be a closely-fought season, two of the top teams are now facing reliability issues. Red Bull's have at least been varied enough to be attributable to plain bad luck, but Ferrari look to have a gremlin living in their powerplant. Is exorcism an option?
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