Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsToro Rosso

Sainz set for Monza engine penalty

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Carlos Sainz is set to take a 10-place grid penalty as a result of an engine change at the Italian Grand Prix.

The Toro Rosso driver had to pull in to the pit lane with a power unit issue on the second formation lap at last weekend's Belgian Grand Prix, eventually joining the race over a lap down. Sainz then retired from the race on lap 32, the fourth successive grand prix he has failed to finish due to reliability issues.

Ahead of this weekend's race at Monza, Sainz has confirmed he is going to take a penalty for changing a power unit component, but is still buoyed by team-mate Max Verstappen's recovery drive in Belgium.

"I just can't wait to get back in to the car, even if I have to change the engine," Sainz said. "But that spec seemed to work quite well for [Verstappen] in Spa.

"I'm positive even if I'll have to take a 10-place grid penalty ... I really want to at least gain all those positions back in the race, as [Verstappen] did in Spa."

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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.