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Daniel Ricciardo will have to use his fourth and final Formula 1 V6 engine in Spain next month following his last-gasp failure in the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Australian's engine failed as he was heading towards the chequered flag, but while it did not cost him his sixth-place finish, it means he will have to use his fourth internal combustion engine at Barcelona.

Ricciardo lost one V6 engine in Friday practice in Australia and his second as a precaution in China, which has also put it out of action.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has confirmed Ricciardo will move onto the fourth in Spain.

"All the [post-race] fireworks went off and the engine obviously wanted to join in," said Horner.

"It failed 200 metres before the line, but thankfully we had enough momentum to coast over the line.

"I think that the engine will be a coffee table in the future - that's three out of four now for Daniel.

"He'll be on engine four in Barcelona."

Ricciardo's engine situation will be improved when the agreement to allow each driver to have a fifth engine is officially rubber-stamped.

This was agreed in Malaysia, although even with a fifth V6, Red Bull will inevitably face penalties later in the year.

"We unanimously agreed on it in Malaysia, all of the teams," said Horner.

"Bernie [Ecclestone] said it only has to formally go through the Strategy Group and the F1 Commission to be signed off and that can be done by fax vote."

Horner added that, while the engine failure was a concern, he's not too worried about it provided it's not a new weakness.

"So long as it's a repeat failure and not a new failure," said Horner when asked about concerns over reliability.

"Whilst disappointing, the failures are ones there are solutions in the pipeline for."