Bottas gets another grid penalty in Sochi after taking fifth engine

Valtteri Bottas will get new elements of the Mercedes power unit which will give  him a penalty at the start of the Russian Grand Prix which he will start from 17th place after being seventh in the qualifying.

It is not known why Mercedes decided on this move since Bottas got the fourth engine in the last race in Monza and therefore started from the back of the grid, but it is possible that they want to influence Verstappen’s attempt to break into the top of the standings after the Dutchman got a new power unit this weekend.

Latifi in Williams and Leclerc in Ferrari also took the fourth power units so they too will start from the back of the standings.

Hamilton is now one of the few leading drivers who did not take the fourth engine, as well as McLaren drivers, and Mercedes must decide when and whether to introduce a new engine for its driver.

Norris will start the Russian Grand Prix from pole position, for the first time in his F1 career, and brought McLaren their first pole position since the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix, while Sainz will start from the front row for the first time in F1.

Russell starts third, the second time this season to start in the top three after the Belgian GP, ​​Hamilton is fourth after a qualifying error that he admitted was ‘embarrassing’ but is determined to redeem himself in the race.

RUSSIAN GP STARTING GRID

PU ELEMENTS OVERVIEW

Status: Sunday at Russian GP (race 15/22)

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 2021 F1 season, drivers can use 3 ICE, 3 TC, 3 MGU-H, 3 MGU-K, 2 ES, 2 CE and 8 EX.

Should the number of races in the 2021 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.

2021 F1 CALENDAR