FIA confirms: grid penalty for Verstappen and five (!) other F1 drivers

The FIA has revealed which drivers have been given grid penalties at this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix. Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc were already known to start from the back of the grid, but there are two other drivers with grid penalties.

Lando Norris and Esteban Ocon, on behalf of McLaren and Alpine respectively, have also decided to fit other engine parts. The same goes for Valtteri Bottas and Mick Schumacher. The latter, however, only changes his gearbox (so far), which earns him a ten-place penalty. They too will have to start from the back of the grid when the lights go out at 14:00hrs for the Belgian GP.

The fact that so many drivers have been penalised on the grid means that qualifying is still going to be fairly important on Saturday afternoon. Starting from P15 or from twentieth and last place makes quite a difference, so despite the grid penalties, there is still something to fight for in qualifying for these six drivers.

More engine parts changed

Many more drivers have changed engine parts this weekend. However, they used parts that were still in their engine pool. They will therefore not be put back on the grid. Lewis Hamilton, George Russell, Daniel Ricciardo, Sebastian Vettel, Alexander Albon, Nicholas Latifi, Lance Stroll will all drive with a new combustion engine at Spa-Francorchamps.