Engine Trouble for Kimi?

Ferrari to inspect Raikkonen’s engine

Ferrari
are to take a close look at Kimi Raikkonen’s engine at the Malaysian
Grand Prix to see if it needs to be changed following the minor
problems he had in the closing stages of the Australia race.

Raikkonen dominated at Albert Park two weeks ago, but was instructed
to slow down in the closing stages because of issues the team had
picked up on their telemetry.

Ferrari’s engine chief Gilles Simon said: "We had a small water
leakage so the pressure dropped a little. And we were concerned about
water temperature of course. That is why we asked him to be careful."

With engines needing to last two-race weekends, those small problems
will be a concern for Malaysia – where high temperatures and long
straights put extra stress on the power units.

Should the team feel that Raikkonen’s engine may not last the full
race distance then they may opt to change it prior to qualifying. This
would hand the world championship leader a ten-place grid penalty.

A Ferrari spokesman told autosport.com that nothing had been decided yet.

"We will take a decision next week at the race weekend, having carefully monitored the situation," he said.

Felipe Massa had an engine change before the race in Australia as a
precaution following the gearbox problem he had in qualifying.

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Concerns at Ferrari
www.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/



A question mark has arisen over the health of
championship leader Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari engine for the upcoming
Malaysian Grand Prix.


It has emerged that the Finn’s Australia-spec V8, which powered him to
dominant victory in Melbourne, ran too hot in the final laps of the
2007 season opener.


The cooling system aboard Raikkonen’s F2007 Ferrari was apparently
leaking water at Albert Park; information confirmed by engine boss
Gilles Simon, according to the authoritative Finnish journalist Juha
Paataloo.

Simon reportedly admitted that the engine, which must also be used in
Malaysia next weekend to avoid a ten-position grid penalty, was
overheating late in the race, but was not damaged.

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Originally this info came from
HelsinginSanomat’s F1 blog, someone had left a question if the reporter
would know anything about it, to which the reporter answered:

Quote:

Here is the whole translation of what Juha Päätalo said on his blog: Kimi’s engine did overheat on last laps, because the engine’s cooling system was leaking water. So the cooling system lost some of its power. Ferrari’s engine Chief Gilles Simon admitted the problem, but he wasn’t worried about it, and if he would be, they would change the engine for sure. Apparently the problem was on some part of the cooling system that is outside of the engine, which can be replaced. Since we are talking about Ferrari, I think it should be sorted out before Malaysian GP. The fact that teams test in Malaysia should make it easier to fix it. The only theoretical worry is that the same leak could re-appear in Malaysia, which would be much more fatal to the engine than in Australia because of the hot weather. Taken and translated from the Helsingin Blog by Warwick, credits: FreshF1.com

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This was one of the most occuring problems for Ferrari in winter testing, along with the gearbox. They will probably change it on the Saturday, because if
it was leaking towards the end of the race, then its gonna cause
problems early in the race isnt it? Dunno. Hopefully they’ll sort it, at least they know now. Whatever the outcome, Kimi has lots of experience in starting the race from the back, so I have no worries whatsoever, he always does a good job, Bahrain 2006 anyone?

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Alonso slammed by own fan club LOL

A group of Fernando Alonso supporters has slammed the reigning world
champion for treating members badly at the first race of the 2007
season.


17 members of ‘Pena Asturias F1’, whose website is called ‘Club F1
Alonso’, travelled to Melbourne to watch their countryman’s McLaren
debut but returned to Spain disappointed, according to El Mundo
Deportivo.


The president of the club, Manuel Rodriguez, said 25-year-old
Alonso treated his fans "like crap" by refusing to sign autographs or
pose for photos.


"He looked at us with disgust and answered ‘no’," Rodriguez said,
adding that members of the Alonso fan club had to be content with
photos with Kimi Raikkonen and even F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone.



He continued: "We are annoyed. We support the driver but we think Alonso as a person leaves a lot to be desired."



‘Pena Asturias F1’ members, however, still intend to travel to Malaysia for the next race.

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If its true, then thats is very upsetting. Otherwise, they must have really annoyed him for that; I seriously doubt he would have done that. Some fans do expect a lot from their heroes, its understandable but we also have to understand the drivers! These fans must have been screaming and shouting and
doing that annoying AL-ON-SO chant which would irritate me as well to be
honest. Maybe he had a headache, be considerate people!

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McLaren’s complaints of F2007 rejected

Hurt by Ferrari’s advantage during the Australian Grand Prix in
Melbourne , McLaren presented three separate complains to FIA about
F2007’s legality.

According to German magazine Auto, Motor und Sport, FIA’s Charlie
Whiting inspected the F2007’s supposedly illegal pieces one by one and
found all of them to be legal. The Small wing above the gearbox isn’t
flexible, the floor’s air conducts aren’t attached to sidepods and the
floor doesn’t flex more than it’s allowed to. Whiting had already
inspected both Ferrari’s and BMW’s floors before the race, and informed
McLaren that both are legal.

Source:Turun Sanomat (in Finnish)
Translation by Warwick, credits: FreshF1.com

(Kimi Raikkonen Space)