Power unit usage update for Spain

Lewis Hamilton (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1 W10 and Valtteri Bottas (FIN) Mercedes AMG F1 W10 in qualifying parc ferme.
© XPB 

The news that Ferrari is to introduce a new specification power unit on their cars this weekend means that Mercedes' current clean sheet is looking increasingly impressive.

At the moment, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas are both still on their first engines (ICE), turbochargers (TC), MGU-H and MGU-K, energy stores (ES) and control electronics (CE) components.

The only other team matching the Silver Arrows for power unit reliability is Racing Point, which itself uses customer engines from Mercedes.

That's also the case at Williams, and Robert Kubica is likewise yet to replace any parts on his FW42. Alas his team mate George Russell is not quite so blemish-free, as his unfortunate drain cover accident in Baku has meant he needed a replacement energy store and control electronics unit.

Given that 2019 consists of 21 races, the core power unit parts should be lasting for an average of seven races each if they're to get to the end of the season without penalties.

But Spain is only the fifth Grand Prix, so it's looking like all of the non-Mercedes teams are bound to get hit by costly penalties at some point, possibly even before the summer break.

Coming into this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix, Ferrari had previously made changes to the control electronics in both of their cars, and to those of their respective customer teams Haas and Alfa Romeo.

But the engine upgrades Ferrari announced this week will mean they will be on their second ICE, with probable knock-on changes to the TC, MGU-H and/or MGU-K to be confirmed on Friday.

Neither Haas nor Alfa Romeo will be taking those new components this week. However Antonio Giovinazzi incurred a penalty in Azerbaijan for taking a third CE unit, when only two changes are allowed per season within the rules.

Renault is also rumoured to be introducing a new power unit to its cars this weekend. Nico Hulkenberg is already on his second set of ICE, TC, MGU-H and MGU-K while Daniel Ricciardo has just had one new MGU-K to date.

Honda has already pushed through an early upgrade to their engines for both Red Bull and Toro Rosso. It's left Daniil Kvyat and Alexander Albon on their third ICE. One more and they will start to get hit by grid penalties too, much as happened last year when they became Honda's de facto test squad for rapid engine development.

Here's the current official state of power unit usage as confirmed by the FIA's technical delegate Jo Bauer on Thursday at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

The updated Ferrari situation will be officially confirmed when the cars roll out on friday morning for first practice.

Power Element Usage - 2019 Spanish Grand Prix

DriverICETCMGU-HMGU-KESCE
Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton111111
Valtteri Bottas111111
Ferrari
Sebastian Vettel111112
Charles Leclerc111112
Red Bull/Honda
Max Verstappen222211
Pierre Gasly222211
Renault
Daniel Ricciardo111211
Nico Hülkenberg222211
Haas/Ferrari
Romain Grosjean111112
Kevin Magnussen111112
McLaren/Renault
Carlos Sainz222211
Lando Norris111211
Racing Point/Mercedes
Sergio Pérez111111
Lance Stroll111111
Alfa Romeo/Ferrari
Kimi Räikkönen111112
Antonio Giovinazzi111113
Toro Rosso/Honda
Daniil Kvyat322211
Alexander Albon322222
Williams/Mercedes
George Russell111122
Robert Kubica111111

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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