The Formula 1 engine regulations oblige each driver to use a certain number of components throughout the season. If anyone exceeds that figure stipulated by the regulations, they will receive an automatic penalty for the starting grid.
To begin with, a power unit in Formula 1 is made up of seven different components:
- Internal Combustion Engine (ICE)
- Turbocharger (TC)
- MGU-H (which recovers the energy generated by heat)
- MGU-K (which recovers the energy generated by braking)
- Battery (ES)
- Electronic Control Unit (EC)
- Exhaust system (EX), actually made up of four separate components.
Each participant can use a limited number of each of these seven pieces in a year. Article 28.2 a) of the Formula 1 Sporting Regulations states that “no driver may use more than 3 engines (ICE), 3 MGU-H, 3 turbochargers (TC), 2 batteries (ES), 2 electronic control units ( EC), 3 MGU-Ks and 8 of each of the four components that make up an exhaust system assembly during a championship.”
Regarding the sanctions, here we explain how they are determined, taking article 28.3 of the same regulation:
- The first time an extra component is used (ie above the maximum), a 10-place grid penalty is imposed.
- The next time an additional element of the same type is used, a 5-place grid penalty will be imposed.
- The sanctions are cumulative, that is, if several elements are modified at the same time, the sanctions are added.
- However, as soon as the total exceeds 15 places, the driver in question will automatically be sent to the back of the grid. If several drivers meet in this case, they are placed at the back of the grid in their order during qualifying.
- To prevent a driver from “stockpiling” new parts and racking up penalties during a single Grand Prix, only the last assembled of each component may be used in subsequent events without penalty. The others will incur penalties as soon as they are used applying the same logic. Therefore, there is no practical interest in changing the same component multiple times during a race.
- Finally, the pieces are linked to the car and not to the driver. As a consequence, if someone is temporarily or permanently replaced during the season, they will inherit the engine allocation used so far.
Now that the groundwork has been laid, for how the power unit regulations work in the 2022 season, here’s the balance of how many drivers have used. The first frame shows the situation at the end of the previous GP and the second the changes for the current GP:
The situation before the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix 2022
Yellow boxes indicate that the limit has been reached, while if the cell is red, it means that the driver has exceeded the maximum allowed by the regulations.
|
ICE Maximum=3 |
CT Maximum=3 |
MGU-H Maximum=3 |
MGU-K Maximum=3 |
IT IS Maximum=2 |
EC Maximum=2 |
EX Maximum=8 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| George Russell | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Lewis Hamilton | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Max Verstappen | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Sergio Perez | two | two | two | two | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Charles Leclerc | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| Carlos Sainz | two | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | two | 3 |
| Daniel Ricciardo | two | two | two | two | 1 | 1 | two |
| Lando Norris | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Fernando Alonso | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| Stephen Ocon | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | two | 3 |
| Pierre Gasly | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Yuki Tsunoda | Four | Four | Four | Four | 3 | 3 | Five |
| Lance Stroll | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Sebastian Vettel | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Alex Albon | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Nicholas Latifi | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Valtteri Bottas | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| Guanyu Zhou | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Kevin Magnussen | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Mick Schumacher | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
The new parts installed during the 2022 F1 Austrian GP
The yellow boxes indicate the elements that make the pilot reach the allowed limit, the red ones will be shown when they exceed the maximum.
| ICE | CT | MGU-H | MGU-K | IT IS | EC | EX | Accumulated penalty | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norris | X | X | X | X | X | None | ||
| boots | X | X | X | X | X | X | Comes from the bottom of the grill | |
| zhou | X | None | ||||||
| Leclerc | X | None | ||||||
| Schumacher | X | None | ||||||
| Alonso | X | X | X | X | X | X | Comes from the bottom of the grill |
