01/09/2017
NEWS STORY
Whatever the finishing order after Q3 tomorrow, the grid order on Sunday afternoon will look somewhat different.
Before a wheel had turned in this morning's opening practice session, Fernando Alonso and the Red Bull duo, as expected, were handed grid penalties, with Carlos Sainz similarly punished.
Just a week after his teammate took a 65-place hit in Belgium, Alonso has thus far forfeited 35 places as his team replaced his Internal Combustion Engine (ICE), MGU-H, MGU-K, Control Electrics, Energy Store and Turbocharger.
To further complicate matters, while the new engine, understood to be the latest spec unit (3.7) from Honda, was used in the opening session, for the second session he will revert to the engine used (and retired) in Belgium last week.
Daniel Ricciardo takes a 20-place hit for a new MGU-H, ICE and Turbocharger, while teammate Max Verstappen loses 15 places for his new ICE and MGU-H.
It was later confirmed that Carlos Sainz forfeits 10 places after his team changed his MGU-H.
Other than the fact that this means four drivers have between them lost 80 grid places, it comes at the very beginning of the weekend meaning that further penalties could be in store. Indeed, with a number of the forthcoming races offering little opportunity for overtaking, drivers may opt to take penalties at Monza where it is easier to make up the lost grid positions.
FOM's new sporting boss Ross Brawn has revealed that there are plans to drop the controversial penalty system, but with no viable alternative this may not happen before 2021.