With the first thirteen races in the archive and another nine still to be played, it is time for the teams to take stock of the engines and transmissions. As expected, with only three power units available for a championship of twenty-two Grand Prix, respecting the seasonal ceiling for the teams proved to be a real undertaking, already incurring several penalties in the first part of the championship with still others are expected to return from the summer break. For some engineers, especially Ferraris, these critical issues were exacerbated by the design risks taken on the current engines, given the desire to bridge the previous cavalry gap before the engines freeze up to 2025 inclusive.
On the occasion of the last Hungarian Grand Prix, both drivers of the Red Bull duo have replaced the components of their power units, reaching the threshold of three annual units. Although unrealistic, it appears unlikely that Milton Keynes’ cars will be able to compete in the next nine rounds without making any substitutions, thus increasing the risk of having to serve a penalty on the starting grid in the second half of the season. Ferrari powered cars on the other hand, almost all of them are already over the seasonal ceiling, with Leclerc, Sainz, Magnussen and Bottas using four thermal engines. For the standard-bearers of the Cavallino in particular, the scenario of a double penalty each to be served between now and the end of the year seems increasingly probable, probably starting as early as the Spa stage. Similarly, also for the drivers of AlphaTauri and Alpine any further substitution will result in a retreat on the starting grid.
However, the prospects of penalties do not concern only the engines. Verstappen, Leclerc, Bottas and Schumacher recorded the use of four transmissions, equal to the maximum number allowed by the regulation. Any further change on the gearbox will result in a retreat of five positions on the grid. In the end, Charles Leclerc is the only driver to have reached the roof of eight exhaust pipes per seasonreaching the threshold of a penalty that will probably be served at the same time as the two budgeted for the power unit.
Although irrelevant for the purposes of penalties, the substitution counts for individual engineers are however eloquent of the level of reliability of the various units. Alpine continues to outline the most critical issues, with an average of four units mounted on its cars. Then follow Ferrari, just under the four average substitutions, and Red Bull Powertrain, stopping at 3.5. The most consistent power unit turns out to be Mercedesan engineer with an average of just over the two units used per car, thus keeping himself perfectly in line to end the season without incurring almost any penalty.
Drivers table
ICE: Internal Combustion Engine (Thermal Engine: maximum 3 per season)
TC: TurboCharger (Turbocharger: maximum 3 per season)
MGU-H: Motor Generator Unit Heat (Hybrid, electric motogenerator coupled to the turbo: maximum 3 per season)
MGU-K: Motor Generator Unit Kinetic (Hybrid, electric motogenerator coupled to the crankshaft: max 3 per season)
ES: Energy Store (Hybrid, battery: maximum 2 per season)
CE: Control Eletronics (Control unit: maximum 2 per season)
EX: Exhaust (Exhausts: maximum 8 per season)
GB: Gearbox (Gearbox gears: maximum 4 replacements per season)
GC: Gearbox Case (Gearbox outer casing: maximum 4 replacements per season)
Pilot | ICE | TC | MGU-H | MGU-K | ES | THERE IS | FORMER | GB | GC |
Russell | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
Hamilton | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
Verstappen | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
Perez | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 3 |
Leclerc | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 4 |
Sainz | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 |
Ricciardo | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
Norris | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
Alonso | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 |
Or with | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 3 |
Gasly | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 |
Tsunoda | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 |
Vettel | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
Stroll | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
Albon | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Latifi | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
Bottas | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
Zhou | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
Magnussen | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 3 |
Schumacher | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
Engineers table
ICE: Internal Combustion Engine (Thermal Engine)
TC: TurboCharger (Turbocharger)
MGU-H: Motor Generator Unit Heat (Hybrid, electric motogenerator coupled to the turbo)
MGU-K: Motor Generator Unit Kinetic (Hybrid, electric motogenerator coupled to the crankshaft)
ES: Energy Store (Hybrid, battery)
CE: Control Eletronics (Control unit)
EX: Exhaust
Engineer | ICE | TC | MGU-H | MGU-K | ES | THERE IS | FORMER |
Mercedes (8 cars) |
17 | 17 | 17 | 19 | 14 | 14 | 19 |
Ferrari (6 cars) |
22 | 23 | 23 | 22 | 12 | 15 | 32 |
Red Bull Powertrain (4 cars) |
14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 8 | 9 | 20 |
Renault (2 cars) |
8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 10 |
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