Power unit element status for Austin

©WRI2

With four races remaining in the 2018 Formula 1 world championship, half the field is still on course to complete the season without incurring any penalties for taking more power unit elements than allowed by the regulations.

Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton has taken three internal combustion engines, three turbochargers and three MGU-H components, along with two each of MGU-K, energy store and control electronics units.

Both Ferrari drivers Sebastian and Kimi Raikkonen are similarly on track when it comes to power unit element usage. Likewise, both Haas drivers and everyone at Force India and Williams have all seen their season go to plan, as has Sauber's Charles Leclerc.

However Hamilton's team mate Valtteri Bottas has already had to take one extra complete set of elements, which meant that he incurred a penalty that saw him start from the back of the grid in Spa.

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The second Sauber of Marcus Ericsson has also gone over the allowed number with an extra ICE and energy store. He took grid penalties at Monza and Suzuka.

Toro Rosso tops the table for most power unit elements used, with Brendon Hartley having taken seven sets of ICE, TC and MGU-H elements heading into this weekend's United States Grand Prix.

His team mate Pierre Gasly has taken one less of each - still double the number officially allowed. Both will have new power units this weekend start from the back of the grid.

Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo and Renault's Nico Hulkenberg have both needed five ICEs to get to this point. Their respective team mates Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz are both on four engines so far, the same number as both McLarens.

Here's the complete current situation ahead of Free Practice 1 at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas:

Power Element Usage

Driver	ICE	TC	MGU-H	MGU-K	ES	CE
Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton	3	3	3	2	2	2
Valtteri Bottas	4	4	4	3	3	3
Ferrari
Sebastian Vettel	3	3	3	2	2	2
Kimi Räikkönen	3	3	3	2	2	2
Red Bull/TAG Heuer
Daniel Ricciardo	5	5	5	5	4	4
Max Verstappen	4	4	4	4	3	3
Force India/Mercedes
Sergio Pérez	3	3	3	2	2	2
Esteban Ocon	3	3	3	2	2	2
Williams/Mercedes
Lance Stroll	3	3	3	2	2	2
Sergey Sirotkin	3	3	3	2	2	2
Renault
Nico Hülkenberg	5	6	5	4	4	4
Carlos Sainz	4	4	4	3	3	3
Toro Rosso/Honda
Brendon Hartley	7	7	7	6	3	4
Pierre Gasly	6	6	6	5	3	3
Haas/Ferrari
Romain Grosjean	3	3	3	2	2	2
Kevin Magnussen	3	3	3	2	2	2
McLaren/Renault
Fernando Alonso	4	4	4	4	3	3
Stoffel Vandoorne	4	4	4	3	3	3
Sauber/Ferrari
Marcus Ericsson	4	3	3	2	3	2
Charles Leclerc	3	3	3	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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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.