But he is not the only one set to start Sunday’s Spa-Francorchamps race much further down the grid than his qualifying position. Lance Stroll has also been given a 10-place drop, while Isack Hadjar will definitely start from the very back of the grid after triggering a whopping 30 places’ worth of penalties.
FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer has confirmed new engine components have been taken by several drivers for this weekend’s action in the Ardennes Forest. Most of them are within the rules but Hadjar has been given his fifth internal combustion engine, turbocharger and exhaust system of the year, all of which are beyond his yearly allocation.
The regulations mandate an automatic 10-place grid penalty for the first instance of each engine component going beyond the annual allotment. That means Hadjar is dropped by 10 places for each of those three new engine bits, though the rules also say that an accumulation of 15 places or more simply means a driver will automatically start at the back of the grid.