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.
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.
Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
David Coulthard believes Formula 1 should finally consign engine-related grid penalties to history, arguing that…
Lewis Hamilton refused to blame misfortune for his Belgian Grand Prix struggles, instead pointing the…
A genuine rookie leading on his Grand Prix debut - and in his only F1…
Last weekend at Road America, motorsport fans gathered to celebrate the extraordinary legacy of Dan…
Mercedes heads into the Hungarian Grand Prix with one clear mission: stop leaving points on…
McLaren will arrive at this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix armed with a raft of upgrades…