Hamilton makes final penalty-free power unit changes

2016 Austrian Grand Prix

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Lewis Hamilton will receive grid penalties if he uses a new turbocharger or MGU-H during any of the remaining races this year.

The world champion moved onto his fifth turbocharger and MGU-H of the year at the Austrian Grand Prix weekend, the FIA has confirmed. He will receive a ten-place grid penalty the first time he uses a sixth power unit component and five-place penalties for and further sixth elements he uses.

Further penalties will be applied in the same fashion if he uses a seventh or subsequent power unit elements. Hamilton has used a total of 22 power unit components compared to team mate Nico Rosberg’s 15.

Power unit failures earlier in the season have led Hamilton to use up his allocation of components more quickly than any other driver on the grid. The only other driver to have used a fifth element is Max Verstappen, who took over Daniil Kvyat’s allocation when the pair switched teams ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix.

Drivers may use a total of five complete new power units without penalty. The number was increased from four when the calendar exceeded 20 races.

Last year all eight Mercedes-powered drivers completed the entire season using no more than four complete power units.

Power unit components used as of Austrian Grand Prix FP1

Power unit components – Austria FP1

2016 Austrian Grand Prix

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    Keith Collantine
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    25 comments on “Hamilton makes final penalty-free power unit changes”

    1. It is quite remarkable that the most components used is one of the factory Mercedes cars. I would never have predicited that before the season given their class leading reliability and performance with the V6 hybrid turbos.

      1. They must be having to push the envelope more to keep their advantage. As it should be.

    2. I am afraid reliably and bad luck are handing the crown to Nico Rosberg.

      1. I’m afraid consistency and calmness is handing the crown to Rosberg. :(

        1. Exciting.

        2. True..and I actually didn’t expect a sensible comment on this article.

        3. If Lewis loses this year, he loses in the best of ways, where his teammate has not beaten him in ability, and that is easier to live with.

          Nico is A good driver. In life and sports the concept of deserving is foreign. I would rather have the Rosberg upbringing then Lewis. But Lewis upbringing makes him 1000 times the winner compared to Rosberg even without any WDC. In that light whatever other people feel or say about him feels and smells like cowdung to me.

      2. It is down to reliability issues and mistakes by Lewis combined with Nico being on top form. I am a big Lewis fan but I really believe that this is Nico’s year, and to be honest if he wins the WDC he will have earned it.

        1. to be honest if he wins the WDC he will have earned it.

          And I think this goes to Lewis too if he pulls it back.

          I think it’s really good if fans of both drivers can have a positive competitive view on it. The Mercedes facebook page is pretty dire at the moment.

          There’s no doubt that Lewis has had some poor luck so far, but that’s part of motor sport.

          1. IF you would take away both drivers badluck incidents and for all dnf put in their average performance, Who would be the winner in such A scenario? would you still idé The word deserverd?

      3. @abdelilah that’s my worry, that come the end of the year, people will flood us with commentaries about how much Rosberg title was down to Hamilton’s “bad luck and reliability issues” when in fact Rosberg has been in top form and deserves to be where he is. After all, in many ocassions, it wasn’t just reliability issues that delayed Lewis, but bad starts and incidents on track.

        Hopefully we can all see what a great season Rosberg is having regardless of fanatism.

        1. Posts like this is my worry. That come the end of the year people will have forgotten just how diabolic the reliability was on Hamilton’s car at the beginning of the year which put practically put him out of contention before a third of the season had even passed, and put it down to Rosberg being on ‘form’.

          Of course, its easy to be consistent and have the impression your ‘smashing it’ when your opponent is out of the race.

          1. @N
            How can you be sure that in China and Russia Hamilton WOULD have beaten Rosberg to pole and in the race?

            1. I’m not making that assertion. I’m just saying, as Lewis has, that Rosberg has had an easy run this year because his rival has essentially been taken out of the equation because of poor reliability.

              In the first five races of the year, IIRC, Hamilton was 3-2 up on Rosberg, despite not actually being able to take part in 2 Saturdays. But some how, some people had the impression that Rosberg was ‘on it’.

          2. Mrs Hamilton
            1st July 2016, 21:37

            They will remember Lewis smashing into something when he did have a car under him?

            1. Will they? Or will you? Will you remember Rosberg’s poor race in Canada were he had no issues and couldn’t defend without spinning and losing control of the car? He was lucky there was a run-off and didn’t ‘smash into something’

          3. It’s also easy to get the impression that he’s having it easy because his team mate’s car had problems more often than him. He’s been faultless this year, that’s one kind of skill. It’s not his problem that he’s driving the best car there is.

            Hamilton has not gotten the best of what he’s got. Even with the reliability issues. Races like Bahrain, Australia and Baku have all been decided without a single reliability problem and it was Rosberg who came on top. And while it was a racing incident in Spain (put the blame whichever side you want), the fact was that Rosberg had beaten Lewis to turn 1 and there was little indication that Lewis could’ve overtaken Nico in a normal race there either.

            1. Rosberg form is no worse then 2014-15, The only difference is The amount of head to heads witch are fewer, also because of Lewises engines problems he has to run his engines lower then all the other Mercedes users, that fact makes IT harder to know where The drivers in terms of theirn contribution to The cars performance but in A 50/50 scenario IT devalues Rosbergs performance because he has more on tap from the engine. So for me Rosberg is having A average Rosberg season and Lewis is being hampered by the direct and indirect cummulative effect of engine failiures and whatnot.

              Again Nico is A good driver having A good season not one where he is making me belive he is better then Lewis.

        2. “Hopefully we can all see what a great season Rosberg is having regardless of fanatism.”

          Rosberg is hardly been on top form this season though. The first 4 races basically fell into his lap with issues for Vettel, Raikkonen, Ricciardo and Hamilton taking them out of contention and Baku was his first pole position where Hamilton didn’t have car issues. He has driven much better in previous seasons.

          1. Hamilton did have car issues. One of the wheels fell off.

        3. You are correct: Rosberg is currently ahead in the World Drivers’ Championship because his driving is better than Hamilton’s, and we can see that because he has caused less wear and tear on his engines.
          The inference I get from Hamilton’s higher use of engines and other components, and from the claims he has had poor reliability and bad starts, is he isn’t driving with the same level of skill as Rosberg, nor with the same skill as he did last year.
          If Rosberg does win the World Driver’s Championship then it will be because his driving was better than Hamilton’s.

          1. @drycrust

            Not this again, how do you know it is Hamilton’s driving that caused the issues? Are you in the know about the cause of the failures?

            Mercedes themselves acknowledge they should be doing better, look at the last two seasons, both drivers had some failures that were not their fault.

            Even the latest issue on Hamilton’s car in Baku was the team’s fault, they messed up the settings and did not inform Hamilton.

          2. thats pure fabrication! Hamilton uses less fuel and has better Tyre management Then Rosberg by far, that is a fact. As we have all wittnessed that, i dont see where engine wear could possible be higher then Nicos.

            How did you come to that fact. Even his team has apologised to him. That does indicate the team was att fault. and not Lewis. You whole argument makes no sense to me.

    3. Guys, has Rosberg ever overtaken or won Ham in a straight fight? No, it has always been the other way around! :) We all know how it is and always will be. Of course Ros will take the title if this continues, but only because there’s no competition due to Ham’s constant problems this year.

    4. and it will be abu dhabi 2016 and ham is wdc and all the inuendos and rosberg sentiments above will go down de drain..

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