Max Verstappen will start the Russian Grand Prix from the back of the grid after exceeding the number of engines allowed across the season.
Having changed his engine this weekend, Verstappen has now used four across the year, one more than is permitted.
With one of his three engines being damaged beyond repair following the crash with title rival Lewis Hamilton at July’s British Grand Prix, Red Bull knew that the Dutchman would incur a penalty at some point in the season.
They decided to take it this weekend because Verstappen had already been given a three-place penalty for the collision with Hamilton at the last race at Monza.
Now starting from the back of the grid, the 23-year-old has given Hamilton a golden opportunity to reclaim the championship lead. 5 points behind Verstappen coming into this weekend, the Briton will be confident at a track where he has won four of the last seven races and where Mercedes have never lost.
Verstappen will be joined at the back of the grid by Charles Leclerc, the Ferrari driver also taking a new engine this weekend and exceeding the allocation.
Leclerc suffered a damaged battery pack after Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll crashed into him at the Hungarian Grand Prix before the summer break.
With Ferrari bringing a new, upgraded engine to Sochi, and with Leclerc short on battery-related parts as a result of the crash, the Italian team said it made sense to give the Monegasque the new engine.
His teammate Carlos Sainz will continue with the old specification engine. Ferrari say they will introduce it to the Spaniard’s car at a future race “follow[ing] an evaluation of the right compromise between competitiveness and the impact of the penalty.”
Featured image by Jen Ross, some rights reserved; no changes made.
