Ferrari breaks curfew to change Sainz's power unit

Ferrari opted to break F1's curfew last night in Hungary to undertake a precautionary power unit change on Carlos Sainz's car.

The Scuderia's penalty-free curfew breach was the first of two exceptions permitted for teams during the season and was justified by suspicious data noted by the Italian outfit during Friday's opening day of running at the Hungaroring.

The unit has been sent back to Maranello for further inspection.

• Read also: Sainz admits Ferrari 'went a bit backwards' on Friday

The engine swap means that Sainz's has moved on to his third power unit of the season, therefore reaching the authorized limit for hardware usage. A fourth unit later in the season will automatically imply a grid penalty for the Spaniard.

With regard to engine allocations, Williams' George Russell and Aston Martin's Sebastian Vettel - both powered by Mercedes - as well as Alpine's Esteban Ocon are all also on their third PU for 2021.

However, in the Red Bull camp, Max Verstappen is still on his second PU of the season following Honda giving the all clear on Friday to the Dutchman's engine which survived the latters' crash at Silverstone two weeks ago.

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