14 Of The Most Spectacular Engine Failures In Motorsport

A race car engine being pushed to the limit will sometimes give up the ghost and when an engine fails, it’s usually pretty dramatic. Here are the most spectacular engine failures we’ve seen in motorsport

Jack Leslie

14 Oct 2016

Jenson Button almost made it to the flag at the 2006 Australian Grand Prix, but his engine failed in quite a fashion out of the last corner and he stopped just before the finish line.

A recent example, there wasn’t a huge amount of smoke and flames from Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes when he retired from the 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix. But his pain and disappointment over team radio and in his body language are what made this one so memorable.

The No.91 Porsche retired during this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours after a fiery engine failure.

While Button didn’t make it to the finish by just a few metres, Daniel Ricciardo was lucky enough to cross the line at the end of the 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix as his engine blew up.

Martin Brundle’s home F1 race at Silverstone in 1994 couldn’t have gone much worse after his engine failed on the start line, with flames erupting from the back of his McLaren.

Valentino Rossi’s engine failed dramatically during the 2016 MotoGP race at Mugello. Smoke levels can’t quite match a F1 engine, but it was still pretty spectacular.

Honda’s V10 engines had a tendency of blowing up and it happened at the worst possible moment for Takuma Sato during the Monaco GP. On lap three it failed around the swimming pool section and the blanket of smoke caused a huge crash between David Coulthard and Giancarlo Fisichella.

Sebastian Vettel’s engine didn’t even make the start of the 2016 Bahrain GP before failing in style on the warm-up lap.

V10 F1 engines tended to let go in a big way and Kimi Raikkonen’s McLaren did just that in Bahrain in 2004.

The IndyCar cameras caught this engine failure for Ryan Hunter-Reay as it was winding down but if you skip through the first minute or two, you can see just how dramatic it was.

James Cole’s Subaru BTCC racer went up in flames at Donington earlier this year after a problem with his engine.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s engine failed late at the Michigan race in 2013, much to the frustration of his team.

Heikki Kovalainen’s car caught fire during the 2010 Singapore GP after an engine issue and he turned firefighter to put it out!

Nigel Mansell’s engine failed during the 1990 Phoenix F1 race and the flames and oil caused him to go spinning around, but he managed to (somehow) avoid the barrier.

What are the most dramatic engine failures you have seen in racing? Let us know below!