F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Button takes 35-place grid penalty for new power unit

Jenson Button will start from the back of the grid in the Japanese Grand Prix after taking a new power unit ahead of the race.

Honda had introduced an upgraded power unit on Fernando Alonso's car - featuring an update to the engine block and exhaust - in Malaysia last weekend, which Button was having to wait until the United States Grand Prix to receive in order to avoid a grid penalty at Honda's home race at Suzuka.

However, with Button qualifying 17th during a disappointing qualifying session on Saturday - two places behind Alonso - McLaren has decided the penalty carries a small impact and Honda has upgraded Button's power unit in order to have it available for the rest of the season.

Button takes a complete new power unit - comprising internal combustion engine (ICE), MGU-H, MGU-K, turbo, energy store and control electronics - which is the sixth of each component. The first component carries a ten-place grid penalty, and each subsequent component carries a five-place grid penalty, resulting in 35-places in total.

The penalty means Button will now start from the back of the grid, with Kevin Magnussen, Marcus Ericsson, Felipe Nasr, Esteban Ocon and Pascal Wehrlein all gaining one position.

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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.