Max Verstappen is on the brink of a penalty for excessive use of power unit elements, since he has already used all four permitted engines in the first ten races of the season – we present an overview of the use of power unit elements ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix.
In the second practice session in Montreal, Verstappen had a problem with the electrical part of the power unit, which is being inspected at Honda’s Japanese headquarters in Sakura, and if it does not pass the inspection, Verstappen will need a new one.
Last race in Spain Verstappen took the fourth and final permitted engine while the fifth engine will also mean a ten-place penalty, as well as any first excessive use of any element.
Each subsequent violation (for example, the sixth engine) brings a five-place grid penalty.
In the same situation is Gasly in Alpine who also used four power units even though not even half of the season has passed while Leclerc, who used four MGU-H, is also on the limit.
The only drivers who have already broken the set number of any of the elements are Albon in Williams and Bottas in Sauber who used the third battery (energy store) and the third control electronics.
Status – Friday at Austrian GP
| Driver | Team | PU | ICE | TC | MGU-H | MGU-K | ES | CE | EX |
| Max Verstappen | Red Bull | Red Bull | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Sergio Perez | Red Bull | Red Bull | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| George Russell | Mercedes | Mercedes | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | Mercedes | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | Ferrari | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | Ferrari | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Oscar Piastri | McLaren | Mercedes | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Lando Norris | McLaren | Mercedes | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | Mercedes | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | Mercedes | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Esteban Ocon | Alpine | Renault | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Pierre Gasly | Alpine | Renault | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Alexander Albon | Williams | Mercedes | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Logan Sargeant | Williams | Mercedes | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Daniel Ricciardo | RB | Red Bull | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Yuki Tsunoda | RB | Red Bull | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Valtteri Bottas | Sauber | Ferrari | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Zhou Guanyu | Sauber | Ferrari | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Kevin Magnussen | Haas | Ferrari | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | Ferrari | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
ICE – internal combustion engine, TC – turbo charger, MGU-H – motor generator unit heat, MGU-K – motor generator unit kinetic, ES – energy store, CE – control electronics, EX – exhaust system
In 2024 F1 season, drivers can use 4 ICE, 4 TC, 4 MGU-H, 4 MGU-K, 2 ES, 2 CE and 8 EX.
Should the number of races in the 2024 Championship drop to 19 or less, the permitted number of motor generator units-kinetic (MGU-K) will be reduced to 2.
The first time an additional element is used: Ten (10) grid place penalty.
The next times an additional element of the same type is used: Five (5) grid place penalty.
If a driver incurs a penalty exceeding fifteen (15) grid places he will be required to start the race from the back of the starting grid.
Any of the seven elements will be deemed to have been used once the car’s timing transponder has shown that it has left the pit lane.
During any single Event, if a driver introduces more than one of the same power unit element which is subject to penalties, only the last element fitted may be used at subsequent Events without further penalty.
If a driver is replaced at any time during the Championship his replacement will be deemed to be the original driver for the purposes of assessing power unit usage.
