FIA confirms power unit changes for five drivers in Sochi

The FIA race stewards have confirmed that five Formula 1 drivers are set for grid penalties at this weekend’s Russian Grand Prix.

In the regular power unit update bulletin issued following the start of first practice at the Sochi Autodrom on Friday, the FIA confirmed Daniel Ricciardo, Max Verstappen, Brendon Hartley, Pierre Gasly and Fernando Alonso have all taken fresh parts outside of their season allocation in Russia.

As a result, all five drivers are due to drop to the back of the grid, with penalties set to be officially confirmed later today.

Red Bull drivers Ricciardo and Verstappen have taken a fresh B-spec Renault engine for this weekend as the C-spec upgrade brought to Monza will not be able to run at high altitude tracks in Mexico and Brazil.

At Toro Rosso, Hartley and Gasly will both race with the updated Honda power unit from this weekend onwards, giving the Japanese manufacturer a boost ahead of its home grand prix next weekend at Suzuka. McLaren’s Fernando Alonso will also drop back after taking a complete new power unit for the weekend.

The penalised cars all appeared early at the end of the pit lane in order to get out first in FP1 as the sanctions would be applied in that order.

McLaren reserve Lando Norris - taking over Alonso’s car for FP1 - led out Ricciardo, Verstappen, Gasly and Hartley, meaning they will fill out positions 16 to 20 on the grid accordingly.