F1: Red Bull, Toro Rosso brace for engine penalties at upcoming races
Confirmation by the F1 Strategy Group that there will be no free fifth engine this season means that we are likely to see grid penalties start to accumulate within the next two or three races.
Last year, teams were allowed five power units, which meant that penalties didn't kick in until very late in the year when sixth elements were taken.
However, this year - in addition to the number dropping to four - reliability has been poor at both Renault and Honda. With Red Bull and Toro Rosso are already on fourth engines, they are on the verge of taking fifth elements, and McLaren is not far behind.
Although even a penalty-free fifth engine would not have spared them over the course of this season, all were hoping to at least postpone the inevitable.
The first time any fifth element is used - be it the V6, turbo, control electronics, MGU-K, MGU-H or energy store - it triggers a 10-place penalty. Then when a fifth example of any other element is used, the penalty is five places. The first time a sixth element is used, the penalty is 10 places again, and so on.
There is a key difference in the rules relative to 2014, which makes penalties potentially harsher. Last year, teams had the option of changing the whole power unit package and taking a pit lane start.
That option was dropped for 2015, which means that each fifth or sixth element and so on will now definitely generate its own grid penalty, potentially spread over several races rather than being taken in one hit.
Last year, if a driver could not take a complete grid penalty - due to qualifying well down the grid - the remaining places carried over for one race. This year, any penalty places not taken translate into penalties in the current race.
If one to five places are not taken, the driver will have a five-second time penalty at his first pit stop, and if it's six to 10 places, that becomes a 10-second time penalty. Anything between 11th and 20th not taken leads to a drive through penalty early in the race.
