Verstappen and Tsunoda get PU-related grid penalties for Belgium

Verstappen is onto a fifth internal combustion engine (ICE) with Tsunoda now on his fifth ICE, turbocharger, MGU-H and MGU-K plus his third energy store and third set of control electronics.

As per F1’s regulations, if drivers use more PU elements than permitted, a grid place penalty will be applied at the first event where each additional power unit element is used. When exceeded, a 10-place grid penalty will be applied, with the second time (and so on) resulting in a five-place grid drop.

If a driver incurs a penalty exceeding 15 grid places, he will start the race from the back of the grid. Thus Verstappen will serve a 10-place grid penalty while Tsunoda will start the Hungarian GP from the back of the grid, or the pitlane depending on the team's strategy.

The triple F1 World Champion and current Championship leader, Verstappen got his weekend off to the best possible start, topping FP1 for the Belgian Grand Prix on Friday at Spa-Francochmaps. Tsunoda ended the sesion P16.