Tough break at Spa-Francorchamps: engine penalty hits Red Bull Racing hard

The Formula 1 season is progressing steadily with the European races, and that means the time has now come for drivers to have new engine parts fitted that exceed the permitted allocation. In Belgium, two top drivers are affected: World Champion Lando Norris and Red Bull Racing ace Isack Hadjar.

The 26-year-old McLaren driver is having a new electronic control unit fitted, and as this is already his fourth this year, he will have to move back ten places on the starting grid. The British champion had finished the first practice session in seventh place.

Hadjar, on the other hand, is having an entire power unit fitted, which exceeds the permitted limit in several respects. The Frenchman will therefore be relegated to the back of the grid, meaning he will have to stage a comeback. He had finished fourth fastest in the first practice session at the venerable Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.

There is also a penalty for Lance Stroll, who has exceeded the permitted limit by fitting his fourth new MGU-K unit. This is unlikely to make much difference to the Aston Martin driver, as the Silverstone-based team is currently unable to keep up with the competition anyway. In the first free practice session, the Canadian was two seconds slower than Carlos Sainz, who finished ahead of him in 20th place on the timesheet. He was 5.7 seconds off Max Verstappen’s FP1 fastest time.

Various new engine components are also available for championship leader Kimi Antonelli, Red Bull Racing star Max Verstappen, McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, Alpine veteran Pierre Gasly and the two Cadillac drivers, Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Pérez. However, they all remain within their permitted quotas and will therefore face no penalties.

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