Kimi Will Likely Get A New Engine And Avoid Penalty

Kimi Will Likely Get A New Engine And Avoid Penalty

Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali has stated that his team will likely take advantage of the new-for-2008 rule that allows a driver to take his first unscheduled engine change of the year without penalty. Kimi Raikkonen isn’t due a new V8 for his Ferrari, but the damaged exhaust from Magny Cours may have had knock-on effects for the power unit. I’ll have to be honest and say that I don’t follow engine lifespans and changes, but I presume Ferrari are correct in saying that the Finn hasn’t had a out-of-sequence change yet.

In two weeks the Formula One circus visits Silverstone, and while the Northamptonshire circuit isn’t known as an engine breaker, Raikkonen’s power-horse is likely to be very tired following it’s troubled French Grand Prix. Domenicali said they had done all they could to preserve the unit during the race, informing Raikkonen via the radio of certain things that will prolong the life of the engine. However, with the rule in place that will allow Raikkonen a fresh motor without penalty, a precautionary change is surely the way to go.

For sure, after such a heavy race from the middle to the end, it’s very likely that we have to change it so we need to play the joker that allows us to do it. As I said, we will do the analysis later on and tomorrow but there’s no rush to do anything more than eventually change it when we go to Silverstone. Stefano Domenicali.

The team still do not know exactly why the right exhaust started to fall apart, and Domenicali said that an investigation may prove difficult due to the damage done during the remainder of the race. However, the Ferrari boss said that they chose to not remove the offending part during a pitstop because they felt it would cost more time than it may have saved.

For sure we were very worried, no doubt, it was a long race to finish, maybe lost a lot of years and a lot of hair but that’s part of the game. In that condition you never know. It may stop any lap, it’s too difficult, it’s critical.

Unfortunately it was not possible to understand [why] it [happened] and also the other difficulty is that we had almost half of the race with all the breaking parts falling apart so it will also be difficult to have the pieces in our hands because they’re somewhere around the track. We will try to do the analysis after this weekend but at the moment there’s no other info. Stefano Domenicali.

As soon as Ferrari confirm the reason for the part failure (or not) and whether or not they will change Kimi’s engine, it will of course be reported on BlogF1.

17 comments

  • anyone else think there should be a fine for any f1 personnel who start all of their sentences with “for sure”?

    we first noticed it last year, but when did this annoying habit start, and how the heck do we make them stop?

    why use two words when “yes” says it all.

  • For sure the drivers and team personnel use that term a lot. πŸ™‚ My first encounter with it that I noticed was Michael Schumacher in the mid-’90s. Every single soundbite from the man started with those two words. I think ever since then it has stuck with Formula One. What can I say, he has a lot to answer for. Likely starting with for sure…

  • “I think ever since then it has stuck with Formula One. What can I say, he has a lot to answer for. Likely starting with for sure…”

    is it common amongst other sports?

  • Yeah, I noticed it last year and more than anyone else, Massa uses it the most, “for sure”. πŸ˜› I find it really bugging when they say that, but, “for sure” I suppose it’s part of their language.

  • “Yeah, I noticed it last year and more than anyone else, Massa uses it the most”

    i think in future i’m going take a creative licence to any of their quotes and simply change them.

    from here on in “yes” is a perfectly acceptable one-syllable replacement to any given question, if the actual words spoken are “for” and flippin’ “sure”.

  • is it common amongst other sports?

    The only other sport I might watch is surfing, and I’ve never heard the phrase there.

    Massa uses it the most

    Must be a Ferrari thing. Schumacher, Massa, Domenicali…

  • They certainly don’t use that phrase in swimming!

    As for Raikkonen’s engine, that was his first race engine; after his DNF in Canada he was entitled to a free engine change. Every cloud has a silver lining…

  • Hi guys,

    For sure these people are not english you might have noticed that. So they use expressions that might seem weird to you…”For sure” is a very easy to learn expression that looks a bit better than a simple yes/no but I suggest they should be interviewed in their own languages it might surprise the brazilian Massa or the finn Hakkinen but there is a chance they will display a richer vocabulary ;-)…. Do you realise how boring it is for all these guys to have to speak a foreign language? Besides a joke says that you can have a conversation in the US with only 3 words/expressions : Yes / No / for sure πŸ˜‰

    These guys speak some sort of american english supposed to be a “business esperanto”… BTW did you noticed the very american accent of the “german” finn Nico Rosberg but none of them will have an english accent… but the brits indeed πŸ˜‰ He also speaks french and he’s got a very good french accent. He is only 23/24 and he can speak 4 languages… Food for thoughts πŸ˜‰

  • Hey, Alianora La Canta, Raikkonen, I think even had his engine changed after the disastrous Australian GP. How is it that he’ll avoid the penalty now? Someone please explain. Thanks. And, in another post, I’d asked about Raikkonen’s position in the pitlane in Canada and whether he’d have been allowed to overtake Kubica and gain track position. On Star Sports, someone had asked that question to the commentators and they said that Raikkonen really would have been allowed to overtake in the pits, if he had got the better of the starts from there. Just thought I’d make a mention.

  • All drivers have one “free” engine change. this is an FIA regulation.

    About the incident in the pitlane Raikkonen did not overtake, as for what will have happened if… we will never know as Lewis fixed that issue for us πŸ˜‰

  • Ago, there’s a good reason for Nico being fluent in four languages – he was learning all four of them at the key linguistic acquisition point (between ages 4-7). After that age it gets more difficult to become multi-lingual, as generations of English people who were only introduced to French, Spanish and/or German at secondary school age will attest. Still, being fluent in four languages at any age is a major talent.

    Akshay, Raikkonen didn’t finish the Australian Grand Prix (he got a point through being classified, which only requires 90% race completion). Since he didn’t finish, he didn’t get a penalty for the engine. Therefore the get-out-of-jail-free card is still there for him to employ.

  • Hi Alianora learning languages can be done at any age and is one of the best way I know to understand people. A language tells you a lot on a nation.

    The difficulty to learn is always a good excuse for people not really interested in the others or believing their culture is superior and that “the others” should do the effort to communicate with them.

    You will be amazed by the number of people falling in love with somebody from another country and learning their language in a few months only. I have seen a german speak fluent french in less than 6 months when he didn’t make much progress after a year of training. When he introduced me to “his dictionnary” I quickly understood why he made such progress in such little time.

    So have I a “major talent” to speak 3 languages and understand another one? I don’t think so ! my own explanation is I am very curious and I know I cannot get into the people’s mind if I don’t speak their language… And in this world there is nothing like people, their cultures, their languages…. I feel very sorry for the “poor mono-lingual” that are missing so many opportunities to see the real world πŸ˜‰

  • Having spent the last year attempting to get my GCSE Spanish up to AS-Level, I can tell you it’s a lot harder to gain fluency (as opposed to proficiency) in a language as an adult than as a child. The entire class was proof of that. However much it says about how a particular group of people thinks and feels, it’s still difficult because the wiring is primed for understanding a completely different group of people. This effect is reduced if you’ve already got multiple language proficiency, but it’s still there. It’s not an excuse, it’s a bio/neurological fact well-recognised in science.

    I’ve never heard of anyone becoming fluent in a language in 6 months simply because they fell in love with someone who spoke that other language, but well done to them πŸ™‚

  • A bit off topic (F1) here but I couldn’t resist…

    Alianora, give up the GSCE and go to work in Spain for a year: The best place to learn spanish is…Spain! And of course don’t desperately search for the british living in the area πŸ˜‰

    I learnt english at school because I loved the language. Knowing the language made me interested in the english-speaking countries and english history (for a frenchman not a surprise really) so here I am. I found a job here and I float in between 2 cultures with delight. The fact in many brits and many french just believe that they are not gifted for learning languages and that the schools are not good at teaching foreign languages… old countries once ruling the world… we never had to learn another language we taught ours to the other countries.

    I know many englishmen (and women) speaking a beautiful french with this slight and lovely british accent, I enjoy talking with them I slowly get to understand their mind and in return they understand my own. We can switch from one language to the other to get what we want to say right, to be tuned to each other…to understand “cette exquise ennemie”,that sweet enemy.

    “that sweet enemy” -Britain and France the History of a Love-Hate relationship- by Robert (he’s english) and Isabelle (she is french) TOMBS (yes they are married) – PIMLICO ed.2007-

    Hope everybody here will forgive me for this out-of-topic post πŸ˜‰

  • I can’t go to work in Spain in anything I’m qualified to do, or even capable of doing as a job, until I have the full A-Level (indeed, it’s part of the reason why I decided to do it in the first place). I don’t have any kind of skill at the sort of manual labour or tourism jobs that would be accessible with just the GCSE – I’d need to be doing some sort of information work, and that requires near-fluency, not just proficiency. Until I am in a position to get work in Spain I can do, spending that much time there is not possible. AS-Level is the first half of A-Level, which is where I’m at now. I studied Spanish because I thought it was useful and interesting, but it hasn’t made me learn it any quicker (some of my teachers said I was unusually good at it, but praise doesn’t equal fluency by a long shot).

    I have no idea what the relevance of the Britain-France thing is to the topic unless you are referring to a generic tension between two cultures (in that particular case backed up with about 800 years of on-off armed conflict).

  • I said it was off topic… πŸ˜‰

    I used the french and english languages/relationship because it is what I experience everyday so I know what I am talking about. I hoped it will encourage you to continue but obvious I didnt achieve that πŸ˜‰

    the only relevance is I wanted to point out the following facts:

    – if you like the people you just can’t stop getting involved and you don’t worry too much about your proficiency/fluency concepts: you just do it πŸ˜‰

    – It is very rewarding to understand another culture/nation not only what they say, but what, and how, they think… the second part can only be achieved if you speak their language. Why is it rewarding? because then you start questionning your own cuture! You learn about your own country/culture and that is very challenging! You see your country with another pair of eyes…

    The icing on the cake is when you find people from the other culture/country being on the same wavelength because they help you (and you help them) to understand much more quickly what is behind the scene…

    I wish you achieve your goals and I am pretty sure there is a job for you there… when there is a will there is a way πŸ˜‰

  • Ago, I’m absolutely sure there’s a job for me over there (at least for one of those “international job swaps” that are fashionable in the information sector nowadays)… …I just need the full A-Level to do it! Maybe in mid-2010 (I’ve got to wait that long to be able to schedule the latter half of the A-Level at a college with the right support structure, so I’m thinking of doing basic Urdu next academic year while I wait).

    Though I’m still not convinced on most of the rest – the difficulty in finding people on the same wavelength as me is precisely why it took me 7 years before I could consciously speak sentences in English (despite it supposedly being my native language). Having a lot of people around me with whom I really wanted to communicate didn’t work then because unless I knew exactly how to say what I wanted to say, I’d end up either saying nothing at all and going into partial meltdown or say something completely different to what I intended.

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