The disappointing season for Renault and Honda power units continues entering Austria where three of their drivers will receive a grid penalty as Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat as well as McLaren’s Fernando Alonso will use their fifth engines on the year.
The Red Bull duo, at the team’s home race, was majorly motivated by the fast profile of the Spielberg track, where the lack of performance of the Renault power units would be highlighted. Aiming to close the gap on the competition, Red Bull’s engineering team opted to power both RB11s with new units, giving the duo a competitive edge for Sunday’s race, causing the No. 3 and 26 cars to start from the last rows.
As for McLaren, a new engine is part of a package that also includes a shorter nose, new wings, new floor, and other updated bodywork parts. And although Red Bull Ring’s layout is not likely to fit MP4-30’s profile, tracks like Hungaroring and Silverstone do. Thus, opting to take the grid penalty in Austria instead of Hungary or the Great Britain round comes as a strategic solution to maximize the performance of the first McLaren-Honda car in over two decades, as the Woking team and the Japanese manufacturer aim for improvements in the second half of a very disappointing first season back together.
Jenson Button, Alonso’s stablemate, could also start the Austrian Grand Prix powered by a fresh unit, thus receiving a grid penalty of his own. Whether or not McLaren changes the engine of the No. 22 car is to be decided following Friday's practice sessions.
Here are the times of the two practice sessions to take place on Friday (in Eastern):
Practice 1: 4:00 - 5:30 am
Practice 2: 8:00 - 9:30 am
Follow @VAVELFormula1 on Twitter for coverage of this Austrian Grand Prix weekend.
Pete Liguori is the lead Formula 1 writer of the VAVEL USA Racing section. Follow him on Twitter at @PeteUSSports.
