Three of the six Renault-powered drivers in the field have already incurred grid penalties for this weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix.
Daniel Ricciardo and Toro Rosso drivers Brendon Hartley and Pierre Gasly are all using their eighth MGU-H this weekend. All three will therefore received ten-place grid penalties.
Gasly suffered a further power unit problem in first place which prompted his team to fit a ninth MGU-H and a seven turbocharger, giving him a further 15 place grid drop meaning his total penalty is now 25 places.
Ricciardo has previously taken power unit component penalties at the British, Italian and Mexican Grands Prix. Hartley has now had penalties in all three races he has started, while Gasly had a penalty in Mexico too.
Neil (@neilosjames)
10th November 2017, 14:22
Maybe this is what Honda mean when they say they’re closing the gap. “We only used a few more MGU-Hs than Renault…”
MaddMe (@)
10th November 2017, 15:17
I thought similarly, McLaren are going from one unreliable PU to another PU that isn’t massively more reliable…
Lee1
10th November 2017, 15:36
Indeed. I think it is a huge mistake on McLarens part as Honda will get it right at some point and when they do I would put a good bet on them being top of the pile.
Jordi Casademunt (@casjo)
10th November 2017, 16:30
As unreliable as Renault is, the average number of components used per driver for every element for Renault drivers is roughly 5 (so 5 ICEs, 5 turbos, 5 MGU-Ks, 5 MGU-Hs, 5 control units and 5 energy store components).
For Honda? A bit over 9. That’s nearly twice as much, while being massively less competitive.
Yes, Renault looks bad, but if there were 6 cars with Honda engines in the grid, we’d be seeing a lot more retirements.
CarWars (@maxv)
10th November 2017, 17:47
And Honda is stil slow..
joe jopling (@jop452)
10th November 2017, 19:55
agreed Honda is still slow, but when they make the next step for the engine……..
RetardedF1sh (@retardedf1sh)
10th November 2017, 14:39
Didn’t Red Bull deliberately take engine penaties for Ricciardo at Mexico to avoid getting them at Brazil? Didn’t work out now did it? Meanwhile Toro Rosso is giving their drivers just a little taste of next year with Honda.
MaddMe (@)
10th November 2017, 15:15
Ricciardo’s new MGU/h failed at Mexico, hence the penalty here…
Egonovi
10th November 2017, 20:26
Isn’t the turbo charger part of the MGU-H?
BaKano (@bakano)
10th November 2017, 23:01
The MGU-H is linked to the turbo-charger but they are separate components.