Carlos Sainz and Kevin Magnussen will start the French Grand Prix from the back of the grid at Circuit Paul Ricard, having undertaken a series of power changes.
A 10-place drop for Sainz was confirmed on Friday after he changed his control electronics unit, as Sainz retired from the Austrian Grand Prix two weeks ago with a power unit problem that saw him the rear half of his F1-75 engulfed in flames.
WATCH: Ride on board with Carlos Sainz’s fastest lap in second practice session at Circuit Paul Ricard
But with Sainz saying in an interview on Friday evening – after leading free practice 2 by a tenth from team-mate Charles Leclerc – that he was likely to have “penalties” in the plural this weekend, Saturday confirm that the Spaniard would face. additional power unit elements, degrading it to the back of the network.
He will be joined by Magnussen, with the pair respectively responsible for a new turbocharged internal combustion engine, MGU-H and MGU-K and a resulting drop to the back of the grid.
The pair also acquired a new exhaust each (as did Leclerc), while Sainz, Fernando Alonso and Yuki Tsunoda also acquired new gearbox components, with none of these changes causing a penalty for either pilots
The penalties will make the chance for Sainz to repeat his British Grand Prix victory here in France, with the Spaniard also confirming on Friday evening that he had found it more difficult than expected to overtake as he played the game of cat and mouse . he lines up with his rivals in FP1 and FP2.
READ MORE: 5 things we learned from Friday’s French GP practice
“I tried a couple of times with other cars to get ahead because I know I’m going to need a lot, and I have to say it was a bit more complicated than expected,” Sainz said. “Mainly because there is a tailwind on the back straight and with that tailwind the slipstream and DRS effect seems to be a bit low.
“But I have no other choice; I have to find ways to move forward and the best medicine for that is to be a bit faster on Sunday than we are. Let’s see when everyone runs the engine modes on Sunday if we have the top speed to go forward. I hope we do because I’m going to have to get a lot of places!”
Carlos Sainz is hinting at more penalties to come after setting the fastest lap on Friday