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Carlos Sainz will drop five places on the grid for Sunday’s Formula 1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix in Interlagos after picking up an engine penalty.
The Spaniard had a new internal combustion engine fitted to his Ferrari for Free Practice 1 in Interlagos, his sixth such element of the season.
Drivers are allowed just three without penalty, meaning Sainz will incur a five-place grid drop following the outcome of Saturday’s Sprint.
The format this weekend sees any penalties applied to the final grid, meaning he will maintain the fifth-place starting position he secured in Qualifying on Friday afternoon.
Should he maintain that spot in the Sprint, he’ll be demoted to 10th for Sunday’s race.
Ferrari struggled for pace in Mexico last time out, though expects that performance to be an isolated incident.
“We believe Mexico should be a bit of a one-off,” Sainz said heading into the Sao Paulo GP weekend.
“We’ve never been so far off the pace in the dry all year, so I think it’s quite clear that we didn’t get it right in Mexico.
“It doesn’t matter if it was the engine, the car balance, tyres, whatever, there was clearly something there that wasn’t working.
“Now we focus on Brazil and Abu Dhabi, important last two races before the before the end of the season where we want to get the pace back,” he added.
“We want to keep getting back to fight on the podium with Red Bull and Mercedes.”
