30 grid penalties for Fernando Alonso, 25 for Jenson Button
The two McLaren drivers have changed components on their engines, resulting in significant grid penalties for Sunday's start.
The toughest sanction is for Fernando Alonso, who changed all five elements of his engine, resulting in five grid places for each of these elements and even ten for the internal combustion engine. In total, the Spaniard will incur a 30-place penalty. But under the new regulations, this entire penalty will be applied during the Belgian qualifying. It won’t be delayed by a pit stop at the beginning of the race or by a penalty during the Monza weekend.
His teammate fares just slightly better in order to avoid changing the electronic control of his car. He therefore receives “only” a 25-place penalty, even though he has installed his eighth engine of the season.
In these conditions, the last row of the grid is now almost assured for the Woking pilots, as the new evolution of the Honda engine does not seem to allow for a significant performance leap in their car, contrary to what was announced by the Japanese engine manufacturer this week.
From our special correspondent at Spa-Francorchamps
