Hadjar's Bahrain GP grid penalty official, two more back of grid starts confirmed

The FIA has confirmed Hadjar will take his seventh internal combustion engine of the season, taking him further above the four allowed changes during the 2026 campaign.

The Frenchman had already revealed the change coming into the weekend, telling GPblog and other media: “It’s going to be difficult for me. I should be taking a five-place penalty.

“But even like that, I believe it’s a track (Sepang) where, if you have the race pace, you go up,” Hadjar added. “And if we don’t, that means we’re not fast enough. So that’s it.”

Elsewhere, Lindblad and Colapinto each take their fifth ICE of the season - a blow to the latter, who already faces a five-place grid penalty after his collision with Alpine teammate and Lando Norris at the Azerbaijan GP. Colapinto is set for a further 10-place grid drop after his engine changes.

Lindblad, however, will also start at the back of the grid as he introduces a new turbocharger - his fifth of the season, as well as a new exhaust set, with each again going over the allowed elements during the season. The Briton, who receives a 30-place grid penalty in Sepang, also gets a new power unit ancillary component, but that is within the six allowed for 2026.

Cadillac's Valtteri Bottas also introduces a new ICE, and a new turbocharger, but will not incur a grid penalty as these elements are within the allocated elements.

The FIA have confirmed seven upgrades for Mercedes upon F1's return to fan-favourite circuit in Sepang, with four of them targeting the W17's floor. Including reprofiled elements to the floor board, leading edge, corner and the body, Mercedes hope to improve performance both in terms of local load and flow conditioning.

Elsewhere, the Silver Arrows have targeted local load in the W17's rear suspension and rear corner, including reprofiled suspension fairings and a change to the rear winglet span and position. Finally, rear bodywork sees reduced volume and an increased sideview ramp to improve flow.

Mercedes' last major upgrade came all the way back in May for the Canadian GP, with George Russell expressing his surprise this weekend at the frequency of updates from teams around them - McLaren and Red Bull, for instance, introduced upgrade packages last weekend in Baku.