Norris to start Sakhir GP from the back of the grid after power unit change penalty

Lando Norris will start the Sakhir Grand Prix from the back of the grid, after McLaren fitted a new engine and turbo charger to his car.

The 21-year-old had a tricky qualifying session on Saturday, as he was knocked out in Q2 and set only the 15th fastest time, while his team mate Carlos Sainz went through to the top 10 shoot out and will start from eighth.

READ MORE: Mixed fortunes for McLaren as Norris left frustrated by mistakes but Sainz 'achieves maximum' with P8

But on Sunday afternoon McLaren revealed they had swapped out the internal combustion engine and turbo charger for new ones, taking Norris over the allocation of three he is allowed for the season.

The stewards then confirmed the Briton would be hit with a grid penalty as a result, which means he will start the race from the back of the grid.

"New engine in the back, so I’ll be starting at the back. Nothing to lose, FULL SEND," Norris said on Twitter ahead of the race.

It comes after what what Norris called a "messy" qualifying session on Saturday.

“I just need a weekend where I don’t make any mistakes and today I made one, or, I think we made one a little bit," he said afterwards.

“We ran out at the wrong time, so to make up for that I had to do a very slow outlap which ended up being too slow and the tyres going out of the right window, which meant they weren’t in for Turn 1,” he explained. “So it was just a messy run, which was a little bit on my behalf and I think a little bit from the team.”

Although he will take a penalty here in Bahrain, the change does mean Norris will have a relatively fresh engine for the season finale in Abu Dhabi next weekend.

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