Jan.28 (GMM) Friday practice will no longer be exempt from F1’s long-life engine rules, the FIA’s Charlie Whiting has clarified
The engine rules for 2009 have been tweaked, with the mandatory consecutive use of power plants dropped
Instead, drivers will be limited to eight engines for the entire season and can use them “as they like”
In 2008 and previously, the two-race per engine rule did not apply to Fridays. “Now, for 17 races, the eight engines will have to do the three days of each grand prix,” Whiting said in a media briefing on Tuesday
“What the teams will do is to have a Friday engine that’ll probably do the first four races or something of that nature. They’ll then take the engine out and use another one for Saturday and Sunday,” he said
There has also been confusion as to whether, because of the existing ‘parc ferme’ rules, one engine could be used in qualifying and then exchanged with another for the race
Whiting confirmed that penalties for engine changes will only occur in 2009 if a driver uses a “ninth engine”