Bahrain: Engine Change for the Red Bull
Before Saturday, several teams have already installed new parts on some of their cars. An update on these replacements.
The Bahrain Grand Prix provides an opportunity to review the mechanical components that may have been changed since the start of the season. Thus, through several official documents, the FIA allows us to track all replacement operations carried out on the cars throughout a race weekend.
This season, such a series of information is of utmost importance, with the sporting regulations (article 28.4a) requiring teams to adhere to a maximum quota of five power units per car, which includes a set of six components that can be individually replaced, up to a limit of five.
These parts are:
– le moteur thermique
– le turbocompresseur
– la batterie
– le MGU-K
– le MGU-H
– l’unité de contrôle électronique
Beyond these quotas, penalties of 5 or 10 grid places may be applied.
Thus, before Saturday’s session and the qualifiers, here are all the elements that have been modified on the cars.
Changes made to the power unit components
| Driver | Team | Replaced Part | Parts Used Before Replacement | Announced Before | |
| Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | Internal Combustion Engine | 1 | FP1 | |
| MGU-K | 1 | FP1 | |||
| Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-Renault | Internal Combustion Engine | 1 | FP1 | |
| Adrian Sutil | Sauber-Ferrari | Battery | 1 | FP1 | |
| Electronic Control Unit | 1 | FP1 | |||
| Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso-Renault | Internal Combustion Engine | 1 | FP1 | |
| Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso-Renault | Internal Combustion Engine | 1 | FP1 | |
| Jules Bianchi | Marussia-Ferrari | Internal Combustion Engine | 1 | FP1 | |
| Turbocharger | 1 | FP1 | |||
| MGU-H | 1 | FP1 | |||
| Max Chilton | Marussia-Ferrari | Internal Combustion Engine | 1 | FP1 | |
| Turbocharger | 1 | FP1 | |||
| MGU-H | 1 | FP1 | |||
| Marcus Ericsson | Caterham-Renault | Electronic Control Unit | 3 | FP1 |
Transmission changes
Regarding the gearboxes, they must complete 6 consecutive Grand Prix. However, in case of a retirement, drivers are free to change them without incurring the usual 5-place grid penalty. This is the case for Jean-Eric Vergne. As for Sergio Pérez, having not participated in the Malaysian race, he too can change his gearbox freely, without penalty.
| Driver | Team | Announced before | |
| 1 | Sergio Pérez | Force India-Mercedes | FP3 |
| 2 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso-Renault | FP3 |