Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin, Circuit of the Americas, 2021

Vettel to take grid penalty for power unit parts change at COTA

2021 United States Grand Prix

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Sebastian Vettel has revealed he will have a grid penalty at this weekend’s United States Grand Prix.

“We are heading into a difficult weekend,” said Vettel at the Circuit of the Americas today. “We are changing the engine and therefore we will have a penalty.

“We will see what we can do from where we start. Nevertheless, looking forward, I think we can be strong here, how strong we will see.”

The Aston Martin driver has already used his maximum allocation of all power unit parts except for exhausts. How large a grid penalty he received depends on how many parts his team change, but as it will be a minimum of 10 places, the team is likely to accept starting from the back and fit a fresh, complete unit.

Vettel said the track configuration makes it one of the better circuits to accept a grid penalty as overtaking is easier than at some other venues.

“I think it’s a good place to do it,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll have a entertaining Sunday afternoon and get back in the mix.”

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No. Car Engine Driver ICE TC MGU-H MGU-K ES CE EX
31 Alpine Renault Esteban Ocon 3 3 3 3 2 2 8
14 Alpine Renault Fernando Alonso 3 3 3 3 2 2 8
10 AlphaTauri Honda Pierre Gasly 4 4 4 4 3 3 7
33 Red Bull Honda Max Verstappen 4 4 4 4 3 3 7
55 Ferrari Ferrari Carlos Sainz Jnr 4 4 4 3 3 3 7
11 Red Bull Honda Sergio Perez 4 4 4 4 4 4 6
16 Ferrari Ferrari Charles Leclerc 4 4 4 3 3 3 6
22 AlphaTauri Honda Yuki Tsunoda 3 3 3 3 3 3 6
7 Alfa Romeo Ferrari Kimi Raikkonen 3 3 3 2 2 2 6
99 Alfa Romeo Ferrari Antonio Giovinazzi 3 3 3 2 2 2 6
77 Mercedes Mercedes Valtteri Bottas 5 5 5 4 2 3 5
4 McLaren Mercedes Lando Norris 3 3 3 3 2 2 5
47 Haas Ferrari Mick Schumacher 3 3 3 2 2 2 5
9 Haas Ferrari Nikita Mazepin 3 3 3 2 2 2 5
3 McLaren Mercedes Daniel Ricciardo 4 4 4 2 2 2 4
31 Williams Mercedes Nicholas Latifi 4 4 4 2 2 2 4
44 Mercedes Mercedes Lewis Hamilton 4 3 3 3 2 2 4
5 Aston Martin Mercedes Sebastian Vettel 3 3 3 3 2 2 4
63 Williams Mercedes George Russell 3 3 3 2 2 2 3
18 Aston Martin Mercedes Lance Stroll 3 3 3 2 2 2 3

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2021 United States Grand Prix

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