Method and apparatus for operating a drive engine of a vehicle

The invention relates to a method and a device for operating the drive motor of a vehicle. According to the invention, a torque required by the driver, which is converted into a resultant set torque by taking into consideration additional torques, is used as the starting point for correcting the resultant set torque in accordance with loss torques, which are not available to the drive. To implement a negative torque requirement of the driver, the torque required by the driver is corrected using the loss torque that has been weighted in accordance with the accelerator pedal position and the motor speed.