Ferrari discovers Vettel's Singapore engine still useable

Vettel, Max Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen came together on the run away from the grid, with Raikkonen's car hitting teammate Vettel and then collecting Verstappen and Alonso's McLaren at Turn 1.

Vettel, who was on the outside and moved over to cover the inside line as Verstappen and Raikkonen approached on his left, continued but crashed out moments later from the lead of the race.

Having examined the unit at Maranello, Ferrari feels the engine - the third of Vettel's allocation - can remain in the pool to be used again if required in the remaining six races.

The news is significant as it reduces the chances of Vettel having to take a grid penalty later in the season for engine component changes.

Vettel and Raikkonen have so far used three internal combustion engines, MGU-Hs, MGU-Ks, energy stores and control electronics and four turbochargers.

A further change of the turbocharger would spark a 10-place grid penalty as it would exceed their respective allocations.

It is believed Ferrari is hoping to introduce its next specification of engine at the upcoming Malaysian Grand Prix, meaning Vettel and Raikkonen will move onto the fourth and final unit of their allocation.

With a new oil burn limit of 0.9 litres per 100km coming into force from the Italian Grand Prix onwards, Ferrari will need to run at the lower limit when it introduces its new unit.

As Mercedes introduced its new engine in Belgium, one race before Italy, it is allowed to keep burning 1.2 litres of oil per 100km should it wish to do so.