Yuki Tsunoda has been slapped with a 60-place grid penalty by stewards and will start the Belgian Grand Prix from the back of the grid. The Japanese racer will line up at Spa-Francorchamps with a range of new parts fitted to his VCARB as he bids to maintain his dominance over team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.
Tsunoda is now onto his fifth internal combustion engine, turbocharger, MGU-H and MGU-K of the season, as well as his third energy store and set of control electronics.
F1 regulations stipulate that drivers who exceed a designated number of power unit elements in a single season will land a 10-place grid penalty for each violation.
Tsunoda’s catalogue of new parts has seen him handed a 60-place grid penalty in total. If a driver’s penalty exceeds 15 places, as is the case for Tsunoda, they will be guaranteed to start the race from the back of the grid.
The 24-year-old has scored points in each of his last two races, but working his way from 20th into the top-10 in Belgium will be a tough ask. Tsunoda is VCARB‘s leading driver this season with twice as many points as Ricciardo.
Max Verstappen has also been given a grid penalty ahead of the showdown at Spa-Francorchamps, with his fifth internal combustion engine of the season seeing him knocked back 10 places.
Even if Verstappen tops the pile in qualifying on Saturday, the best outcome he can hope for is 11th on the grid. The reigning triple world champion has struggled in recent weeks, with George Russell, Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri winning each of the last three races.
But Verstappen posted the fastest time in Friday’s first practice session by a significant margin, and the Red Bull man has not written off his chances of springing a surprise from way back on Sunday.
“The last few races we have not been the fastest team,” he admitted. “I wouldn’t say with a 10-place penalty that victory is in it, but a race can always turn upside down. So you have to go into it with an open mind and try to make the best of it. That is what we are going for, although I don’t know how competitive we will be.
“The asphalt has been renewed in a few places, so we have to see how the tyres respond to that. A lot is uncertain, including the weather. Rain is predicted on Friday and Saturday, so we have to follow the weather and make progress over the weekend. Then we will see how competitive we are in normal conditions.”