The Formula One official site recently published the complete list of how many engines were used so far in the 2009 season. The situation on top of the drivers' classification looks equal-balanced, as both title contenders Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello have one more engine to spare with 4 races to go.
The situation is far more dramatic for Red Bull however, as Sebastian Vettel will be using his 8th and final unit during the Singapore Grand Prix this weekend. That means that the German driver will probably need at least one more engine for the final 2 rounds of the season, in Brazil and Abu Dhabi.
Apart from the aforementioned drivers, the majority of the F1 field has so far used 7 of their collocated 8 engines per season. The sole exceptions from that rule are Ferrari, Renault and Scuderia Toro Rosso, whose drivers have 2 engines to spare for the remainder of the season.
The list that was made official by the Formula One site does not mean that the engines used so far by the F1 teams are totally unusable. Some of those power plants might still be able to make it past the practice sessions, which would leave the drivers more room to play with their remaining unit.
Again, we don't have all the pieces yet, but what is certain is that reliability is likely to play a big role in how the championship battle will unfold in the final stages of 2009. And we're looking forward to seeing how it will all play out.
McLaren-Mercedes - Lewis Hamilton (7), Heikki Kovalainen (7)
Ferrari - Giancarlo Fisichella (6), Kimi Raikkonen (6)
BMW Sauber - Robert Kubica (7), Nick Heidfeld (7)
Renault - Fernando Alonso (6), Romain Grosjean (6)
Toyota - Jarno Trulli (7), Timo Glock (7)
STR-Ferrari - Jaime Alguersuari - 6), Sebastien Buemi (6)
RBR-Renault - Mark Webber (7), Sebastian Vettel (8)
Williams-Toyota - Nico Rosberg (7), Kazuki Nakajima (7)
Force India-Mercedes - Adrian Sutil (7), Vitantonio Liuzzi (7)
Brawn-Mercedes - Jenson Button (7), Rubens Barrichello (7)
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