Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsMcLaren

Alonso gets 35-place grid penalty in Sochi

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Fernando Alonso will take a 35-place grid penalty for taking new power unit components at the Russian Grand Prix.

McLaren has given Alonso a new internal combustion engine [ICE], turbocharger, MGU-H and control electronics as part of a Honda update to test ahead of this weekend's race, with the ICE being Alonso's tenth of the season from the 15 rounds so far. As it is the first time a tenth power unit element has been used, the new ICE carries a 10-place grid penalty.

The remaining three components all carry a grid penalty of five places, giving Alonso a total grid drop of 25 positions. With Alonso set to revert to an older specification of power unit for the race itself, a fresh MGU-H and turbocharger when that change is made will leave him with a final penalty of 35 places.

Roberto Merhi also has a hefty grid penalty, with the Manor driver taking a fifth ICE, turbocharger and MGU-H. Similar to Alonso, Merhi's ICE change results in a drop of ten places, while the other two components carry a penalty of five places each. As a result, Merhi faces a total drop of 20 positions.

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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.