Hamilton takes fourth engine and gets grid penalty for Turkish GP

Lewis Hamilton will receive a 10-place grid penalty at the Turkish GP for taking a fourth V6 engine, Mercedes confirmed during the first free practice session in Istanbul.

There have been rumors for several races that Hamilton will take the fourth engine, after Bottas, Perez and Verstappen did the same, and before the Turkish GP, team boss Toto Wolff confirmed that there is a possibility to do so this weekend.

But during the first free practice Mercedes confirmed that Hamilton will take the fourth engine, which will bring him 10 places grid penalty, but not other new elements that would bring him a start from the back of the grid.

In addition to the new engine, Hamilton also received a new exhaust system, but as this is only the fourth of a total of eight permitted units of this element, he will not receive a penalty for it.

Sainz is another driver who will get a penalty at the start of the Turkish GP for taking a new Ferrari power unit, but he will start from the back of the grid as he took all seven new PU elements.

Status: Friday at Turkish GP (race 16/22)

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