Alonso, Red Bull and Toro Rosso all sent to the back

Lando Norris (GBR) McLaren MCL33 Test Driver leads drivers queueing at pit exit who will have grid penalties for Sunday's race.
© XPB 

McLaren's Fernando Alonso will join Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo lining up at the back of the grid for Sunday's Russian Grand Prix.

Alonso's MCL33 has been fitted with a new internal combustion engine, turbocharger, MGU-H and MGU-K, as well as a new control electronics unit and a new energy store for this weekend's race.

That incurs a slew of grid penalties meaning that Alonso will be starting the race from near the back.

However, pending further penalties it's unlikely that he will be starting from dead last, as a number of other drivers face similar setbacks.

Both Red Bull Racing drivers are reverting to Renault's B-Spec engine this weekend, meaning a new ICE, turbo, MGU-H and MGU-K on both cars. In addition, Verstappen is to be fitted with a new CE and ES.

Things are no better at the sister Toro Rosso team, with Pierre Gasly similarly needing new ICE, turbo, MGU-H and MGU-K components from Honda this weekend. His team mate Brendon Hartley will take the complete set of power unit elements.

The team is attempting to get all of its penalties out of the way before heading to Honda's home race at Suzuka in seven days' time.

The order in which the penalties are applied - and therefore determine which of the drivers starts higher up the grid than the others - depends on the order in which the cars came out on track at the start of Free Practice 1.

McLaren ensured that Alonso's car - driven for the session by current test and development driver Lando Norris - was at the head of the queue, which likely means it will be 16th on the grid on Sunday.

As a result, regardless of the outcome of qualifying tomorrow, the last two rows will almost certainly be packed out with Red Bull and Toro Rosso cars, a somewhat ignominious situation for both squads.

Here's the current status of power unit usage, including Friday's latest upgrades

Power Element Usage

DriverICETCMGU-HMGU-KESCE
Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton333222
Valtteri Bottas444333
Ferrari
Sebastian Vettel333222
Kimi Räikkönen333222
Red Bull/TAG Heuer
Daniel Ricciardo555544
Max Verstappen444433
Force India/Mercedes
Sergio Pérez333222
Esteban Ocon333222
Williams/Mercedes
Lance Stroll333222
Sergey Sirotkin333222
Renault
Nico Hülkenberg565444
Carlos Sainz444333
Toro Rosso/Honda
Brendon Hartley766634
Pierre Gasly666533
Haas/Ferrari
Romain Grosjean333222
Kevin Magnussen333222
McLaren/Renault
Fernando Alonso444433
Stoffel Vandoorne444333
Sauber/Ferrari
Marcus Ericsson433222
Charles Leclerc333222

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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