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.
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.