When Magnussen’s car caught on fire today, it made me wonder: what’s burning? The fire was coming out of the exhaust, so I can’t imagine what was actually burning. And then, what does that mean for the engine? Can it be repaired, or does the whole engine need replacing? There are limits to how many engines a team uses each year, correct? I’m guessing that will play a role in this too. It’s not the first car fire this year, so I am also wondering how all of the teams are doing this far into the season with regards to using up all of their allocated spare parts.

    • skipmorrow@lemmy.worldOP
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      1 year ago

      That makes sense. It was a red-orange slow-ish fire. Still not good. If it is just a seal, and as long as everything was still lubricated, I suppose it could probably be rebuilt.

      • Chreutz@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        It is often the bearings in the turbo that fail, and that makes the oil lubricating the turbo spill into the exhaust. In those cases, the turbo is typically done for, but the rest of the engine should not be affected.