Kimi Antonelli will have an engine change for this weekend’s Formula 1 Belgian GP, but the Mercedes driver, who receives his fourth power unit in his pool, will manage to avoid a penalty at Spa-Francorchamps.
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The decision was made while the team inspects the unit used at the British GP, after the mechanical problem that took Antonelli out of the points zone in Silverstone. With this, the championship leader is now only one engine change away from receiving a grid penalty in the upcoming rounds.
The retirement in the British race allowed his main rivals to reduce the gap in the standings. George Russell, Antonelli’s teammate, reduced the deficit to 25 points, while Lewis Hamilton is 32 points behind before the weekend at Spa-Francorchamps.
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McLaren has confirmed that Norris will start the Belgian GP with a ten-place grid penalty due to the change of power unit components. The team justified the timing of the change: “We chose to do this in Belgium, a circuit where overtaking is relatively more frequent, instead of the next two rounds, in Hungary and Zandvoort. We now plan to use this fourth electronic power unit for the rest of the season, to maximize reliability and minimize sporting penalties for Lando.”
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