A hypothetical question

[thehemogoblin]

If Vettel ends up running out of Renault engines by the end of the year, would a switch to Toro Rosso be possible for any of the remaining races?

[Janmarcuus]

Of course not! During the season, you can use 8 engines; at the 9th engine, you get penalised of ten positions on the grid. If he can't finish the season with 7th and 8th engine, it's better to start from 11-15 position with an RB5 than to struggle with an uncompetitive car in the last positions. Why should he switch, to come out of the points at every race?

[Nuppiz]

And if I recall it correctly, the engines count against the driver, not the car.

[dresda]

I was wondering, can't these engines be rebuilt? Would a rebuilt engine count as a 'new engine'?

Anyway, glad to know he won't have to sit out the rest of the season once he runs out of engines.... I wondered about that as well.

[Captain Hammer]

I was wondering, can't these engines be rebuilt? Would a rebuilt engine count as a 'new engine'?

Yes it would.

[dr-baker]

And if I recall it correctly, the engines count against the driver, not the car.

No, I believe they count against the car, so Badoer would have taken Massa's allocation, Alguersuari has taken over Bourdais's allocation and Piquet's allocation has gone to Roman Fatjohn.

[DonTirri]

And the car problem would be easily solved too. Take a RBR5, slap a Ferrari engine to it and paint it to the darker shade used by Toro Rosso and nobody would know the difference

[Phoenix]

Chances are, it's unlikely that he brokes 2 engines before the season ends. The Renault is a reliable engine.

[Tealy]

If the engines counted against the car and not the driver then this would be worth considering if Torro Rosso were closer to the pace. As it is though I agree with most that he is better taking a 10 place penalty in a Red Bull.

[BlindCaveSalamander]

Chances are, it's unlikely that he brokes 2 engines before the season ends. The Renault is a reliable engine.

I doubt they'll be as reliable when they have to do three races apiece.