Hadjar, Lindblad and Colapinto receive additional grid penalties for power unit component limits at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia

By Vancouver Television Sports Desk

Power unit compliance has reshaped the starting grids for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, with Isack Hadjar, Arvid Lindblad and Franco Colapinto all taking penalties tied to exceeding allocated components. Formula 1 states the drivers were penalized after surpassing permitted power unit element counts, triggering mandatory grid drops under the sport’s regulations.

Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar, who returned from injury to score a podium in Baku last time out, will take his seventh internal combustion engine (ICE) of the current season. Formula 1 notes that there are four permitted ICE units across the season, meaning Hadjar has exceeded the limit with every ICE component used so far, and therefore receives a further five-place grid penalty at this event.

Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad is also affected by component overuse. Formula 1 reports that Lindblad has taken a new ICE, which is his fifth ICE of the four allowed. Alongside that, he has also used a fifth turbocharger and a fifth exhaust set, each exceeding the allocation permitted for the season—leading to a back-of-grid outcome for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.

Alpine’s Franco Colapinto enters the weekend already carrying a five-place grid penalty from a prior incident involving team mate Pierre Gasly and McLaren’s Lando Norris in Azerbaijan. Formula 1 adds that Colapinto will now take an additional grid penalty after taking a fifth ICE of the season, moving him even further down the starting order.

Under the applicable rules, Formula 1 states that the first time a driver exceeds the allocation of any power unit element at an event, a 10-place grid penalty is applied. Should a driver exceed the limit again in the same category (and subsequent excesses follow), the resulting grid drop is five places each time. Formula 1 further clarifies that when multiple penalties apply at the same event, they are applied cumulatively.

There is also a threshold tied to the size of the penalty. Formula 1 states that if a driver incurs a penalty exceeding 15 grid places, they must start the race from the back of the field regardless of the calculated drop size.

Given Hadjar’s season-long pattern of exceeding every allowed ICE component count, Formula 1 indicates he takes a five-place penalty. For Lindblad, the total impact of the ICE, turbocharger and exhaust excesses results in a 30-place drop, meaning he will start from the back under the ‘exceeding 15 places’ rule. For Colapinto, Formula 1 reports a 10-place additional penalty on top of the five-place penalty he already carries, creating a cumulative starting-order setback.