2
Lance Stroll and Carlos Sainz are set to take grid penalties for this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix, joining four others who have already had their penalties confirmed.
Stroll will take a five-place grid penalty after fitting a new internal combustion engine - an upgraded version that Mercedes has fitted to both of its factory cars as well as customer teams Racing Point and Williams.
However, Stroll is out of sequence with the others and takes his fourth internal combustion engine of the year.
Renault confirmed earlier today that both of its cars had been fitted with a new engine, while Carlos Sainz at McLaren will also be fitted with the new component, dropping him five places after qualifying.
Honda has introduced its Spec 4 power unit this weekend at Spa-Francorchamps, which is being used by Alexander Albon and Daniil Kvyat - both will receive hefty penalties and be sent to the rear of the grid.
Lewis Hamilton has also fitted a second energy store and control electronics to his power unit, as well as a new engine, MGU-H and turbocharger.
Grand Prix of Belgium
C. Sainz jr
4 members have this team as their favourite
Replies (2)
Login to replyf1dave
Posts: 782
Firstly, limiting the number of components used does nothing, each team uses as many components as it takes to do the full year. Secondly, it makes the drivers championship is meaningless as long as equipment failures result in grid penalties. Why is it so hard for them to deduct points from the constructors championship instead ?
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Actually it does, it cuts costs pretty significantly. Of course, said cost rises with each extra allocation, but the base cost, the shortterm cost (and businesses only care about shortterm) gets decreased. Furthermore, in theory, it promotes the skill of taking care of your components as a driver. However, in practice it just sets back the teams using Renault or Honda packages. And deducting points alone is probably not enough for the teams or suppliers to really care, they'd just pump in engine parts, and as with all things corporate the teams only listen to the harshest punishments, that is, driver penalties.