Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll hit with Azerbaijan GP grid penalties for Honda F1 power unit changes

Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll will start from the back of the grid at F1’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix after receiving grid penalties for fitting new Honda power unit components.

Alonso and Stroll had already suffered grid drops earlier this year as Honda’s reliability woes meant neither driver had any hope of sticking to the season’s allowance of four engines.

Aston Martin and its power unit partner Honda have now decided to install the latest batch of power units across both cars.

Alonso will fit a fifth V6 engine and turbocharger as well a ninth set of ancillary components. As it’s the first time the two-time world champion exceeds his engine and turbo allowance, he is slapped with a 10-place penalty for each, while being docked an additional five-place penalty for the remaining components.

Stroll is taking a sixth turbo, seventh battery, sixth control electronics unit and eighth set of ancillary components. As the Canadian had already exceeded his allowance on each of those four elements, the Canadian received four five-place grid penalties for a total of 20.

If drivers receive grid drops of more than 15 places, they are required to start for the back of the grid, though in Aston Martin’s case that rule is just a technicality.

Both drivers finished bottom in FP2, with only Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas in Thursday morning’s FP1 session. Alonso only managed nine laps in second practice before disappearing into the garage with a suspected oil leak on the power unit.

Mercedes driver George Russell convincingly led the way in FP2 on the Baku City Circuit ahead of his championship leading team-mate Kimi Antonelli.

We want your opinion!

– The Motorsport.com Team

Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: motorsport.com