Red Bull's decision to roll out new power unit elements on Daniel Ricciardo's car this weekend means that the Australian will be starting the German Grand Prix from the back of the grid.
Ricciardo is taking a new motor generator unit-kinetic (MGU-K) this weekend, which is the third one this season. That's more than allowed under the 2018 regulations and means he will be handed a 10-place grid penalty for Sunday's race.
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, Haas' Romain Grosjean and Kvin Magnussen, and Sauber's Charles Leclerc and Marcus Ericsson are also taking new MGU-Ks this weekend.
However in their case it's only the second of the season, meaning that they don't face any grid demotions as a result of the changes.
In addition, both Red Bull and both Ferrari drivers are to start the weekend with new Energy Stores. As with the MGU-Ks, Ricciardo has already used two so far in 2018 and the third puts him over the allowed number for the season.
That means another five-place grid penalty for Ricciardo this weekend.
Vettel, Raikkonen and Max Verstappen have only used one Energy Store to date this year, so their changes are within the regulations. It means that the three drivers face no penalties this weekend.
Ricciardo also needs a new Control Electronics unit for this weekend. He's had two already, so the third means he's once again over his quota - and that means a third penalty of another five places for the race.
In total that drops Ricciardo down 20 places, which means that even if he qualified on pole he would still have to start from the back of the grid.
So far the team has not informed the FIA of any changes to the RB14's internal combustion engine, MGU-H or turbocharger.
Ricciardo has already used the maximum number of these components, so any new components will incur further penalties. But given he's starting from the back anyway, this might be a good investment by the team taking him into next weekend's power-intensive Hungarian Grand Prix.
“We’ll see after [practice],” Christian Horner told Motorsport.com on Friday. “I don’t know whether the combustion unit will be new, but he’s due some other components."
Power Element Usage
| Driver | ICE | TC | MGU-H | MGU-K | ES | CE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercedes | ||||||
| Lewis Hamilton | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Valtteri Bottas | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Ferrari | ||||||
| Sebastian Vettel | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Kimi Räikkönen | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Red Bull/TAG Heuer | ||||||
| Daniel Ricciardo | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Max Verstappen | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Force India/Mercedes | ||||||
| Sergio Pérez | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Esteban Ocon | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Williams/Mercedes | ||||||
| Lance Stroll | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Sergey Sirotkin | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Renault | ||||||
| Nico Hülkenberg | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Carlos Sainz | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Toro Rosso/Honda | ||||||
| Brendon Hartley | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 |
| Pierre Gasly | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Haas/Ferrari | ||||||
| Romain Grosjean | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Kevin Magnussen | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| McLaren/Renault | ||||||
| Fernando Alonso | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Stoffel Vandoorne | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Sauber/Ferrari | ||||||
| Marcus Ericsson | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Charles Leclerc | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Notes:
- ICE: Internal Combustion Engine
- TC: Turbo Charger
- MGU-H: Motor Generator Unit – Heat
- MGU-K: Motor Generator Unit – Kinetic
- ES: Energy Store
- CE: Control Electronics
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