Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas have moved onto their fourth engines of the year, meaning they are one change away from a grid penalty.
For this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, the W08s of Hamilton and Bottas have been fitted with a new Internal Combustion Engine, Turbocharger and MGU-H, their fourth of the season.
Drivers are permitted four versions of each of the six power unit components; the introduction of a fifth leads to a 10-place grid penalty.
As a result, Hamilton and Bottas join title rivals Ferrari in being one change away from a sanction, with Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen, who led the way in Friday's opening practice session, both having used four Turbochargers.
Teams are permitted to recycle components already used in order to avoid a penalty.
As it stands, only McLaren-Honda’s Stoffel Vandoorne has a grid drop this weekend, which stands at a notional 35 places.
Discussion about this post