Grid drops for Raikkonen and Button

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and McLaren’s Jenson Button have both been handed grid penalties ahead of this afternoon’s 2016 Formula 1 Emirates Japanese Grand Prix.

Raikkonen will drop from third to eighth thanks to a five-place penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change. Team mate Sebastian Vettel, who qualified fourth, had already been penalised three places for his Turn-1 collision with Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg in Malaysia.

It means the second row of the Suzuka grid is now an all-Red Bull affair, with Max Verstappen third and Daniel Ricciardo fourth.

Meanwhile, Button - who qualified 17th - will start from the back of the grid for McLaren partner Honda’s home race, after they took the strategic decision to give the Briton a fresh engine, turbocharger, MGU-H, MGU-K, Energy Store and Control Electronics.

All components are Button’s sixth of the season, exceeding his allocation, hence incurring a total penalty of 35 grid places. It does at least mean, however, that the Briton now has the latest-spec Honda engine, which team mate Fernando Alonso, who qualified 15th, has already been running.

With Manor’s Pascal Wehrlein having already received a five-place gearbox penalty, the provisional grid now reads: Rosberg, Hamilton; Verstappen, Ricciardo; Perez, Vettel; Grosjean, Raikkonen; Hulkenberg, Gutierrez; Bottas, Massa; Kvyat, Sainz; Alonso, Palmer; Magnussen, Ericsson; Nasr, Ocon; Wehrlein, Button.