IndyCar has confirmed that Alex Palou will take a six-position grid penalty into today’s race at Laguna Seca.

The Spaniard has moved onto a fifth engine of the season, representing an unapproved change, and hence the sanction.

Palou had qualified fifth before Honda Performance Development announced that his engine had “an issue”.

The penalty therefore puts him back to 11th and hence moves Chip Ganassi Racing team-mate Marcus Ericsson up to ninth on the starting grid.

Ericsson remains a slim chance of winning the series, while Palou will now also start in close proximity to another Ganassi driver in Scott Dixon, who is tied for second in the standings with Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden.

Whether calculated or not, the penalty therefore has the convenient effect of being a minor boost to the prospects of two of the 2021 champion’s team-mates.

Dixon trails pole-sitter Will Power (Penske) by 21 series points while Ericsson is 40 in arrears, with 50 on offer for the win today and another three for leadings laps (one for leading at least one lap and an extra two for leading the most).

Newgarden leads Dixon on a countback but starts on the back row after a spin in Group 1 of Qualifying at the Corkscrew, while Penske’s Scott McLaughlin, fifth in the series, is now off seventh position for the green flag.

Race start is due at 15:30 ET/05:30 AEST, with Stan Sport’s live and ad-free coverage kicking off at 05:00 AEST.

Update 02:32 AEST

Palou fastest in Warm Up on a 1:12.9318s; set-up changes for Power, who was classified 18th-fastest.