Penalties mount for Vandoorne after Honda change

Stoffel Vandoorne now has a 65-place grid penalty for the Belgian Grand Prix as a result of an overnight power unit change.

The Belgian already had a 35-place grid penalty for his home race due to Honda bringing an upgraded power unit to Spa-Francorchamps, with every new component Vandoorne used being over the maximum allocation of four per season. Vandoorne then also received an extra five-place grid penalty as a result of a gearbox change, bringing his total up to 40 places overnight.

However, following Friday practice, Honda discovered a potential issue with Vandoorne's ICE and opted to make a change "as a precaution," giving him a new ICE, MGU-H, MGU-K and turbocharger. McLaren also broke the overnight curfew in order to make the change, using the first of its two exemptions for the season to do so. Each team can break the curfew twice before being penalized.

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Vandoorne's originally upgraded power unit was described as spec 3.6 by Honda, with Fernando Alonso running spec 3.5 as a result of not taking new components. However, the latest power unit installed in Vandoorne's car is also a spec 3.5, meaning he and his teammate now have the same specification of power unit for the race weekend.

Honda confirmed on Friday afternoon that the upgrade was intended to be its fourth specification of power unit but the Japanese manufacturer failed to hit its target of having the full update ready.

Focusing on race pace as a result of the penalties, Vandoorne finished the final free practice session in 14th place on Saturday morning.

McLaren this week confirmed Vandoorne's place at the team for 2018, with the 25-year-old having scored his first point of the season at the last race before the summer break in Hungary.

As well as Vandoorne, both Sauber drivers – Marcus Ericsson and Pascal Wehrlein – will also receive five-place grid penalties for taking new gearboxes at Spa.