Kubica eating through engine allocation

The 2009 season is not quite at its mid point, but BMW's Robert Kubica is already more than half-way through his allocation of eight engines.

The Pole had an engine failure during Friday practice at Silverstone recently, but what was less well known is that the V8 unit's fresh replacement also had to be changed the following day.

Subsequent checks in Munich ultimately gave the second engine the all-clear when the only problem found was a faulty sensor, but Kubica is already using his fifth engine, Germany's Auto Motor und Sport reports.

On his ninth engine, he will have to take a ten-place grid penalty, and the same penalty applies for any subsequent engine changes.

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The magazine also reports that Nelson Piquet is desperate to race a new Renault chassis at next weekend's German Grand Prix.

Since the January tests the Brazilian has sat at the wheel of chassis number 1, and after Silverstone he suspected that his car was inherently slower than his teammate Fernando Alonso's.

"Last year (at Silverstone) there was basically nothing between us," said Piquet, albeit acknowledging Alonso's special talent through the Beckett's section.