Bortoleto and Colapinto hit with grid penalties for US Grand Prix

Gabriel Bortoleto will start last in the United States Grand Prix after receiving a record 80-place grid penalty for exceeding the allowed number of power unit component changes. The Brazilian driver's Audi team installed a fourth energy store and fourth electronic control unit on Friday, incurring an initial 20-place penalty. On Saturday, they added a fifth internal combustion engine, turbocharger, exhaust system, fourth MGU-K, seventh auxiliary component, fifth battery, and fifth control unit, adding another 60 places Source: infobae. Although Bortoleto qualified 14th, he will start from 22nd position.

Franco Colapinto of Alpine received a 10-place penalty for fitting a fourth electronic control unit, exceeding the season limit of three Source: Excélsior. This adds to previous sanctions for Colapinto, including a five-place grid drop for causing a collision in Azerbaijan and a 10-place penalty in Malaysia for using a fifth internal combustion engine Source: Excélsior.

Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) was also penalized five places for installing a sixth internal combustion engine Source: Clarín.

Record penalty

The 80-place penalty breaks the previous F1 record of 70 places held by Jenson Button at the 2015 Mexican Grand Prix Source: infobae. The regulation simplifies the visual impact of such penalties by automatically moving any driver exceeding 15 penalty positions to the back of the grid Source: infobae.