Why Lance Stroll has 40-place Spanish Grand Prix grid penalty

Lance Stroll will start the Spanish Grand Prix from the back of Sunday’s grid after Aston Martin opted for an engine change, with the new components adding up to a 40-place grid penalty in total.

Stroll did not set a time in qualifying after his AMR26 suffered a suspected water pressure issue which prevented him from completing a timed lap. He was, however, declared “eligible to start the race” by the FIA stewards.

Lance Stroll has a 40-place engine penalty

Stroll will line up last on the grid, behind Oliver Bearman, who also didn’t set a time after his FP3 crash, with Stroll’s 40-place engine penalty, meaning he drops to the very back of the grid.

Formula 1’s regulations state that any driver who incurs a grid penalty of more than 15 places will automatically start at the back of the grid.

Aston Martin broke curfew on Friday night to fit Stroll’s car with five new engine components.

The Canadian moved onto a fifth internal combustion engine, fifth turbocharger, sixth energy store, fifth MGU-K and a seventh power unit ancillary component.

The FIA note read: “The penalty is imposed in accordance with Article B8.2.8 of the FIA Regulations.

In this case, the use of the 6th ES and the 5th MGU-K additional elements each carries a five grid place penalty by virtue of Article B8.2.8b of the FIA Regulations and the use of a 5th ICE, the 5th TC and 7th PU-ANC additional elements each carries a 10 grid place penalty by virtue of Article B8.2.8a of the FIA Regulations.

“Therefore there is an accumulation of 40 places.

“Subject to Car 18 being classified in the results of Qualifying, Car 18 will be allocated a grid position in the Race in accordance with Article B2.5.4b.iv of the FIA Regulations.

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Speaking to the media, including PlanetF1.com, after qualifying, Stroll confirmed that it was a water pressure issue.

“Yeah, for sure. I was looking forward to doing some laps, so unfortunate issue,” he said, adding that “we know we have a lot of these issues, so things to work on.”

Although the Canadian is hoping to make up places during the Grand Prix, he says Aston Martin’s Honda engine is still “pretty power-limited.

“Yeah, still some long straight around here. So its the horsepower that is matters, it matters in most places.

“Similar to Zandvoort maybe. I mean, we know we’re missing a lot of engine everywhere we go – some places more than others.

“It’s still it’s a pretty tight grid, and we need everything. So we’re missing so much an engine. It’s always hard to make up for it in the corners. So we know we need to find a lot more horsepower.”

Stroll is one of three drivers yet to score a point this season, but sits above the Cadillac teammates in the standings by virtue of his P13 in Hungary and his P15 in Canada.

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

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