Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsMcLaren

McLaren pair hit with combined 55-place grid drop

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McLaren drivers Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button have been hit by a combined grid penalty of 55 grid positions at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Honda has delivered an upgraded power unit for this weekend's race at Spa-Francorchamps, with both drivers receiving a number of new elements. As the two McLaren drivers have already comfortably exceeded the maximum of four permitted power unit elements per season, the changes have seen large penalties handed out.

Alonso receives a 30-place grid penalty as a result of taking a seventh internal combustion engine (ICE), turbocharger (TC) and MGU-H, while he also has a sixth MGU-K and control electronics. As it is the first time Alonso has used a seventh power unit element, the new ICE carries a ten-place grid penalty, while there is a drop of five places for each of the other four elements.

For Button, the grid penalty is 25 places having taken an eighth TC and MGU-H, while he is also using a seventh ICE and MGU-K. Using an eighth power unit element also carries a ten-place drop, while the other three elements all result in a drop of five places each.

Both drivers will start Sunday's race from the back of the grid, but a recent change to the regulations by the FIA means there will be no in-race penalties imposed.

Click here for a gallery of the biggest crashes at Spa-Francorchamps

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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.