Hartley to start from back after Honda blow-out

Brendon Hartley is set to start from the back of the grid for the French Grand Prix after a new Honda engine was fitted to his Toro Rosso car.

Hartley’s FP2 session came to an abrupt end on Friday when a power unit failure forced him into parking the car on the exit of the chicane at the Mistral Straight.

The New Zealander has already used all his allotted power units for the 2018 season and, as a result of Friday’s blow-out, leaves him incurring grid penalties.

Honda said in a statement: “As for the PU issue encountered yesterday in Brendon’s car, we have now sent it back to Japan for further investigation.

“We have changed all 6 components last night, therefore Brendon will start from the back of the Grid because of the penalties we incurred.”

“The PU specification we’ll be running today is the latest one – The same as yesterday and also the Canadian GP.

“We hope to have a good race with Brendon and try to work our way forward.”