The FIA Gave Yuki Tsunoda A 60-Place Penalty Despite There Only Being 20 Spots On The Grid

Image: RB F1 Team

The upcoming Belgian Grand Prix is the fourteenth round of the 2024 season, and Visa Cash App RB driver Yuki Tsunoda has already used all of his allotted Red Bull Drivetrains engine replacements for the season. Every time a regulated “power unit element” is replaced, it comes with a ten-spot grid penalty. The RB team figured since Tsunoda’s car needed a new engine after Hungary, they might as well go for broke and replace everything.

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Ahead of the race at Spa Francorchamps this weekend, the team have installed Yuki’s fifth internal combustion engine, fifth turbocharger, fifth MGU-H, fifth MGU-K, third energy store, and third electronics control unit. Six power unit elements means a 60-place grid penalty. Yuki could theoretically grab pole in qualifying on Saturday and he’d still have to start the race from last.

There are still ten more Grands Prix to compete in this year, and Yuki has already run out of free replacement tokens. For the rest of the season, if any of these components need to be replaced, Yuki will have an additional 10-place penalty. The season is just barely past the halfway point, so you can bet that he’ll be awarded trips to the back of the grid at least a few more times this season.

It’s worth noting that the points leader and defending World Drivers’ Champion Max Verstappen and his teammate Sergio Perez are also electing to install their fifth internal combustion engines, while Tsunoda’s RB teammate Daniel Ricciardo is still holding strong with his fourth (and final before penalty).

Red Bull and RB, both teams which use Red Bull’s in-house drivetrain, largely based on the team’s old Honda-supplied engines, are using significantly more engines than the Mercedes- and Ferrari-powered competitors, most of which are still on their third ICE. Combined with Red Bull’s recent loss of comparative pace to the Mercedes, Ferrari, and McLaren competition, this could spell disaster for Verstappen’s title defense bid. This lack of reliability will almost certainly mean Red Bull loses its defense of the constructors’ title.

Those Ford powertrain development dollars can’t come Red Bull’s way soon enough, I think.