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One thing that came to light at
the WilliamsF1 teams recent test at Silverstone was the continued question
marks over the reliability of the Cosworth CA2006 engine. It was reported
that the team had three engine failures, all with the same problems relating
to the engines conrod.
Cosworth has been working hard on solving the problem but does not expect to
have a solution in place until the problem until the Monaco Grand Prix. This
issue highlights one of the shortcomings of working with a small company
like Cosworth, compared to the major engine manufacturers, that they can not
react and fix a problem as quickly.
Cosworth chief engineer Alex Hitzinger confirmed that they are working on
problem and expect to have a solution shortly. He said: “By Monte Carlo we
should have a solution. For a small company like us it is more difficult to
react than it is for the big ones.”
The question that the team now faces is what to do at the up-coming European
Grand Prix where both Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg will be using engines
that will be seeing their second Grand Prix weekend. One possible solution
is for the team to change engines and take a ten place grid penalty.
Mark Webber felt that this may not be such a big disadvantage. Mark said:
“Maybe the penalty is not so big at the Nürburgring, because at that time of
the year it can easily rain. A chaotic race would help if we go that way.”
Nico Rosberg expressed his concerns in a recent interview for the German
media. He expressed his fears that the eight cylinder will not make it
through another race, explaining that the problem might involve damaged
piston rods.
Technical director Sam Michael suggested that with the possibility of rain
and poor weather may make a low grid position not such a difficult thing. He
said: "So a bad starting position is perhaps not so bad." |
