Hamilton has no engine parts left to spare as front-row rival Verstappen nears the same limit

The latest FIA document shows that Hamilton has not a single one of any of the seven power unit components to spare. Verstappen is almost as tight: he still has a spare PU-ANC in his pocket should he need it at any point.

The two will share the front row for the first time since Hungary 2023. Verstappen took pole by 0.298 seconds. The provisional grid was set out in our earlier article, Back-of-grid start confirmed as three drivers face Sepang setback, and the wider reshuffle in our grid penalty coverage. This article looks at who could be next.

Seven parts are limited this season. Each driver gets four internal combustion engines, four turbochargers and four exhaust sets. They also get three MGU-Ks, three energy stores, three control electronics units and six PU-ANC components.

The FIA Technical Delegate documents at Sepang show Ferrari has reached the limit across every power unit category with both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton. Any further part in any category would take either driver over the seasonal limit.

Hamilton was more upbeat in Baku. He said his retirement in Madrid had saved mileage. "I currently don't foresee that I have to take a penalty given that, obviously, we didn't do the mileage on the last race (in Madrid). So I think we should be okay," he said, as we reported in Hamilton reveals key decision to be made over whether to take a new engine. He also said a fresh engine brings a performance gain and that Ferrari would decide later in the year.

Verstappen used up most of his allocation in Baku. Red Bull fitted a new engine, turbocharger, exhaust and PU-ANC after problems in qualifying. Those parts were within his allowance, so he was not penalised. Verstappen himself expects a penalty anyway.

Team principal Laurent Mekies was less sure. He told that it depends on whether the engine taken out of the car in Baku can be used again: "Based on that, we will see if we can make it to the end with his number four engine."

Lindblad and Colapinto went over the limit at Sepang. That this brings the number of drivers beyond the limit in at least one category to ten:

The cost of the next breach depends on the category. Going over an allocation for the first time costs 10 grid places. Further breaches of that same limit cost five. That is why Hadjar's seventh engine cost him only five places this weekend. Lindblad went over the limit on three components at once and got a 30-place penalty.

Championship leader Antonelli has already taken an engine penalty this season, at Monza. He starts third on Sunday with a 66-point lead over teammate George Russell. Russell is among the drivers, along with Verstappen, Leclerc, Hamilton and Esteban Ocon, who have reached the limit for most of the major elements. With penalties closing in on several title contenders, the timing of each team's next engine change could affect the championship.