Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri, Red Bull Ring, 2021

Gasly makes final penalty-free MGU-K change

2021 Styrian Grand Prix

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Pierre Gasly has become the first driver to reach his maximum allocation of MGU-Ks for the season.

Honda fitted the third new MGU-K Gasly has used this season to his power unit following the problem which kept him from participating in second practice yesterday. Gasly, who was second fastest in the morning session, did not run in the afternoon after concerns were raised following inspection of data from his car.

“After a thorough examination of Gasly’s [power unit] following the data anomaly spotted yesterday, we have fitted a new MGU-K,” Honda confirmed. “This is the third of these components used and therefore it is a penalty-free change. The MGU-K previously fitted is being sent back to Japan for further analysis.”

All other drivers have already fitted their second of the three major power unit components they may use this year, including the MGU-K, MGU-H, internal combustion engine and turbochargers. They are limited to a maximum of three examples of each, and an automatic grid penalty applies if they are exceeded.

Power unit components used by each driver so far

No.CarEngineDriverICETCMGU-HMGU-KESCEEX
14AlpineRenaultFernando Alonso2222115
31AlpineRenaultEsteban Ocon2222224
22AlphaTauriHondaYuki Tsunoda2222333
10AlphaTauriHondaPierre Gasly2223223
11Red BullHondaSergio Perez2222223
55FerrariFerrariCarlos Sainz Jnr2222123
16FerrariFerrariCharles Leclerc2222123
9HaasFerrariNikita Mazepin2222123
7Alfa RomeoFerrariKimi Raikkonen2222213
99Alfa RomeoFerrariAntonio Giovinazzi2222213
47HaasFerrariMick Schumacher2222113
33Red BullHondaMax Verstappen2222113
77MercedesMercedesValtteri Bottas2222222
63WilliamsMercedesGeorge Russell2222112
4McLarenMercedesLando Norris2222112
3McLarenMercedesDaniel Ricciardo2222112
31WilliamsMercedesNicholas Latifi2222112
44MercedesMercedesLewis Hamilton2222112
5Aston MartinMercedesSebastian Vettel2222112
18Aston MartinMercedesLance Stroll2222112

ICE: Internal Combustion Engine
TC: Turbocharger
MGU-K: Motor Generator Unit – Kinetic
MGU-H: Moto Generator Unit: Heat
ES: Energy Store
CE: Control Electronics

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2021 Styrian Grand Prix

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    Keith Collantine
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    3 comments on “Gasly makes final penalty-free MGU-K change”

    1. I’ve wondered why did EX become a PU element from this season, having not been part before?

    2. Jockey Ewing
      28th June 2021, 13:44

      Idk, have they used intelligent exhaust systems previously, or thoese were quite passive until this season?
      I mean, when Valtteri temporarily lost some pace at Portimao, after some minutes the team told him, they have found the reason, and it was: the engine performance got reduced a bit due to a sensor reporting exhaust overheating. It lasted only a few minutes, but it cost him some seconds at the endgame of the race. I don’t exactly remember, he had some chance to beat Perez, or was trying to go for the fastest lap, and IIRC he had some chance, but that few seconds pace loss denied it.

      But it is a good feature imo, if the major parts have to be this reliable, and have to have this longevity.
      I liked F1 cars with less durable parts, because, imo that was non artifical drama (and the thrill of it was present at almost every race), and not less challenging engineering than it is today.
      But if something is road relevant, and likely not crazily expensive, then those are like the things like this small sensor. The software and hardware of it is likely easy to adapt for road going cars, and it’s price is likely much smaller than the race for the last horsepowers on the fuel and oil and engine research side.

      1. Jockey Ewing
        28th June 2021, 13:49

        IIRC, in the case of exhaust systems, the limit is much higher than other parts, they can use 8 pieces, before being penalised for fitting a new one, so this will not be a big problem for most, although Alpine seemingly has some problem with it.

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