26/08/2016
NEWS STORY
Fernando Alonso has been hit with a 35-place grid penalty for Sunday's race.
The penalty comes after Honda opted to change his entire power unit following an issue during this morning's opening session which meant he only completed 3 laps.
An upgrade from Honda, which saw the Japanese manufacturer use a further seven of its remaining allocation of engine tokens, saw the Spaniard and teammate Jenson Button both given new units. However, as this was within their allocation it was without penalty.
Unfortunately, the engine change following this morning's issue took Alonso over the allowed limit of 5 of every component.
The penalty, which is imposed in accordance with Articles 23.4 a) and 23.4 f), comprises: 10 grid positions for 6th ICE (1st 6th element used), 5 grid positions for 6th TC (remaining element used), 5 grid positions for 6th MGU-H (remaining element used), 5 grid positions for 6th MGU-K (remaining element used), 5 grid positions for 6th ES (remaining element used) and 5 grid positions for 6th CE (remaining element used).
The resultant 35-place grid drop means the Spaniard will start from the back of the grid where he looks likely to be joined by former McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton.
"It's obviously not ideal to start the weekend with a brand-new power unit, only do three laps with it, and then have to change it," said the Spaniard, "especially as it means taking penalties.
"It's not ideal, but you always prefer these things to happen in practice sessions rather than in races, and it's worse still if you're running in a points-scoring position when such mishaps occur. So let's look on the bright side: as ever, we'll learn from our mistakes and we'll make sure we minimise the incidence of repeat occurrences in the future.
"We'll be starting Sunday's race from the back of the grid, but we'll be trying our best to recover positions from there. I expect Lewis, who'll be starting next to me, will be quicker than me, so I'll try to hang on to his tail, put a rope around his car and get him to pull me through the field!"
Check out our Friday gallery from Spa, here.