Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz will take a 10-place grid penalty for Sunday’s Formula 1 French Grand Prix.
The Spaniard has had a new Control Electronics unit fitted to his F1-75 in contravention of Article 28.2 of the Sporting Regulations.
Drivers are allowed CE two units during the course of the season, with the third such example attracting a 10-place penalty.
Sainz retired from the Austrian Grand Prix last time out when his car caught fire in the latter stages.
The damage was such that the British GP winner also has a new Energy Store on his car this weekend, though that does not attract a penalty as it is his second of the two allowed during the course of the season.
However, it is expected that Ferrari will opt to fit further new components to Sainz’s car later in the weekend.
As such, it’s anticipated that he’ll in fact start Sunday’s race from the rear of the grid, but with a number of new power unit components added into his pool for the balance of the campaign.
Sainz is not alone in taking replacement components this weekend, though is the only one to have attracted a penalty thus far.
Lewis Hamilton has a new Turbocharger, MGU-H, Energy Store, and Control Electronics, though all are within the regulations.
His Mercedes team-mate George Russell also boasts a new Energy Store, as does Alfa Romeo Sauber’s Guanyu Zhou.
Russell also has a new Control Electronics unit on his F1 W13, though that is again in keeping with his allowance this season.
Max Verstappen and Lando Norris both sport new exhaust systems this weekend, their fourth such example of the component of which eight are allowed for the year.
Verstappen ended the opening practice session second fastest to title rival Charles Leclerc, while Sainz was third best, 0.3s down on the outright pace.
The French Grand Prix continues with Free Practice 2 at 01:00 AEST.
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