Sainz set for Austria grid penalty after taking upgraded Renault engine

He’s currently 'best of the rest' in the drivers' standings, but Carlos Sainz will face an uphill battle to maintain his recent run of form after McLaren opted to give him Renault’s upgraded power unit for this weekend’s race in Austria – and that means grid penalties for exceeding his allocation…

The Spaniard has scored points in four of the last five races, and the non-score in that run was an 11th having spent most of the race in the points. That put him seventh in the drivers’ standings on 26 points, with only Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull drivers ahead.

In France, Renault brought their Spec B engine to Circuit Paul Ricard, with only Daniel Ricciardo running it for the works team and McLaren opting not to take the new units there.

However, ahead of running in Austria, McLaren chose to give Sainz a full power unit change, meaning he exceeds his allocation with all six components, meaning a series of grid penalties that will confine him to the back of the grid for Sunday’s race.

The team could opt to make further changes to the car and take it out of parc ferme after qualifying as he is already starting from that back and that would trigger a pit lane start.