F1 world champion Max Verstappen will be one of six drivers to start Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix from the back of the grid.
The Red Bull man will be joined by Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, Esteban Ocon, Valtteri Bottas and Mick Schumacher in being sanctioned for making power unit changes to their cars. With Spa being a track where it's deemed easier to overtake, teams have opted to make the alterations at a track where the damage can be minimised.
An official F1 statement confirmed that Verstappen, Norris, Ocon and Bottas will have new internal combustion engines, turbochargers and MGU-Hs - taking them above and beyond their limit for the season. Verstappen, Ocon and Leclerc will also be penalised for taking on new MGU-Ks and, in Leclerc’s case, a new energy store.
Ocon will change every power unit element, while Schumacher will have a new control electronics unit. Leclerc, Bottas and Schumacher will boast new gearbox cases and cassettes, while Verstappen, Leclerc, Bottas and Schumacher will change their gearbox driveline, gearchange and auxiliary components.
The penalty is unlikely to cause significant damage to Verstappen's title charge, given he holds a 80-point lead over Ferrari man Leclerc in the drivers' standings. The 24-year-old is also no stranger to charging from far back, having been given the same penalty in Russia last season and yet still finished in second place.
However, to see the two title rivals going at it from the back of the grid should make for compelling viewing. And the main benefactors could yet be Mercedes, with neither Lewis Hamilton or George Russell having taken the chequered flag yet this season.
Hamilton is out to continue his run of winning a race in every F1 season, and having been second last time out in Hungary, the absence of Verstappen from the front row of the grid represents a boost to his hopes of keeping that run going. Much will now depend on race conditions and the ease with which the home favourite and Leclerc are able to cut through the pack.
The news will come as a major blow to Belgian race fans though, who will be desperate to cheer a Verstappen win in what could be the last race at Spa for considerable time. The venue's F1 contract expires at the end of 2022, with no sign of an extension being negotiated.
In first practice on Friday, Leclerc and Verstappen finished first practice second and third, behind the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz. Mercedes driver Russell was fourth, with Hamilton down in ninth.
