Lando Norris will drop to the back row of the grid for the German Grand Prix after being handed a grid penalty for new engine components, which have been changed as a precaution following his issues during Qualifying with his battery.
The McLaren F1 Team racer had qualified sixteenth on Saturday, the first time he had been eliminated from qualifying at the first hurdle, but the battery issue cost him valuable time in his efforts to escape Q1.
Alongside the new battery, McLaren has opted to fit a new MGU-K unit as well as a new Control Electronics, with all three new components above his allowed limits for the season.
Alexander Albon, ironically compromised by Norris during Qualifying on Saturday, will move up to sixteenth on the grid, while Williams Racing duo George Russell and Robert Kubica will fill row nine ahead of Norris and Scuderia Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.
Vettel, who did not set a time during Qualifying, will remain twentieth and last thanks to Formula 1’s sporting regulations, which indicate that any driver who fails to set a time will start at the back of the field.
Ferrari have opted to fit him with new control electronics as well, but the penalty that invokes will not mean anything as starts at the rear of the field in any case.
Kimi Räikkönen was another driver to have new components, with the Alfa Romeo Racing driver taking a new internal combustion engine (ICE), turbo charger and MGU-H, but all of these are within his allotted numbers for the season so he retains his excellent fifth place on the grid.
