Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsMcLaren

Button set for mammoth grid penalty

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Jenson Button is poised to start the Austrian Grand Prix from the back of the grid and face in-race penalties after a number of component changes.

With Fernando Alonso already set to be hit with a 20-place grid penalty, Button's penalty is going to be even more severe after he took a new internal combustion engine (ICE), turbocharger, MGU-H and MGU-K ahead of Saturday's running at the Red Bull Ring.

With the ICE set to be Button's sixth of the season - and drivers only allowed four of each component - he will be hit with a 10-place grid penalty, while each subsequent part he has changed carries an extra 5-place penalty.

With the changes resulting in a 25-place grid penalty, Button will be penalised in the race too based on the number of unused grid spots in the following way:

1-5 unused grid positions = 5 second time penalty
6-10 unused grid positions = 10 second time penalty
10-20 unused grid positions = drive-through penalty

With 19 places the most a driver can drop on the grid at any one time this season, Button will receive at least a 10-second time penalty in the race.

Similar to confirmation of Daniel Ricciardo's change on Friday, Daniil Kvyat also is using his fifth ICE of the season in Austria and will therefore drop 10 places on the grid after qualifying.

Click here for Friday's gallery from the Austrian Grand Prix

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.