Vettel, Grosjean, and Massa have changed gearboxes

The Malaysian Grand Prix is an opportunity for a first check on the mechanical components that have been changed since the beginning of the season. Thus, the FIA, through several official documents, allows for tracking throughout a race weekend all the replacement operations carried out on the single-seaters.

This season, such a series of information is very important, as the sporting regulations (article 28.4a) require teams to adhere to a maximum quota of five power units per car. These power units comprise a set of parts that can themselves be replaced individually, 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 positions may be applied.

Thus, before Saturday’s session and the qualifications, here are all the elements that have been modified on the single-seaters.

Changes made to the power unit components

The absence of Pastor Maldonado’s running during Free Practice 2 is explained by the change of four out of six power unit components following the issues encountered during the first free practice. For the rest, most changes took place before FP1.

Gearbox changes

Regarding the replaced gearboxes, the first 6 drivers were able to make a change without penalty (these parts must be used in 6 consecutive races) because they did not finish the Melbourne race, whereas Esteban Gutierrez, who changed his gearbox during the Australian weekend, was able to change again without penalty, with the series of 6 races starting from Saturday.