Alonso to Use 4th Engine in China

Fernando Alonso insisted that he is not at all worried with running out of engines throughout the ongoing season of Formula One. So far, the Spanish driver had one engine change prior to the season opening race in Bahrain, while also experiencing an engine failure during the recent Malaysian Grand Prix.

However, as Ferrari are still having a hard time issuing a media statement to confirm the cause of Alonso's problem at Sepang, the Spaniard was given assurances that the failure was a one-off and will not happen again too soon.

“One is broken, another (the one changed in Bahrain) I can use only in free practices, and the third one (Melbourne) I can use in more races. But I am not particularly worried, the team has told me that it (Malaysia) was an isolated failure, and we didn't have any problems in the pre-season,” said Alonso on Thursday, as quoted by the Spanish media.

Nevertheless, the fact of the matter is that the Spaniard will use his 4th engine this year in China, meaning he'll only have 4 more to use for the entire season ahead. The 2010 Formula One Championship has 19 races, and using half of the units after only 4 rounds was surely not in Ferrari's plans prior to the beginning of the season.

A few weeks ago, it has emerged that Ferrari is using a unique rotational system in terms of engine use, in order to keep their powerplants fresh weekend in and weekend out. However, in case a driver needs to use a 9th engine in 2010, he will receive a 10-place grid penalty for the first race he'll drive with it. This will keep happening for each extra powerplant used in excess of the 8 units allowed by the FIA.

Ferrari are not the only team experiencing engine problems in the first 3 rounds of the season, as Red Bull Racing and BMW Sauber-Ferrari have also tackled similar issues in Bahrain and Malaysia respectively.