That said, the weekend in Malaysia is already bringing severe mechanical headaches for three teams, as RaceFans reports that Isack Hadjar, Franco Colapinto and Arvid Lindblad will all take grid penalties after power unit component swaps.
Fresh off a podium finish last weekend, Red Bull has opted to change the internal combustion engine on Hadjar's car. This puts him onto his seventh ICE of the season and hands the driver a five-place grid penalty.
Franco Colapinto is facing an even steeper mountain to climb. Alpine has fitted his car with a fifth different ICE, which pushes him past his maximum allocation and triggers a 10-place grid drop. Unfortunately for him, this penalty stacks on top of the five-place grid drop he already received for colliding with Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris in Azerbaijan, meaning he will be shoved back a total of 15 places.
Meanwhile, Racing Bulls has completely overhauled elements of Arvid Lindblad's machine, replacing his ICE, turbocharger and exhaust. Because he has now taken his fifth example of each component, Lindblad cops a heavy 30-place grid penalty. Per Formula 1 regulations, that massive drop ensures he will be sent straight to the back of the grid.
Not everyone suffered the same fate, thankfully. Cadillac has also bolted a new ICE and turbocharger onto Valtteri Bottas's car, but he remains safely within his maximum allocation of components and escapes without any penalty at all.
