Pastor Maldonado’s chances of scoring his first points of this season were dealt a blow on Friday with news that he has a 10-place grid penalty.
The Venezuelan driver, whose Lotus is powered by Renault, has fallen foul of the rule limiting drivers to five engines per season.
Nearing the end of a season marred with engine troubles, Maldonado will need to use his sixth internal combustion engine (ICE) this weekend at Suzuka.
As a result, he will drop 10 places back from wherever he qualifies on Saturday.
And should that be too far down for the full 10-place penalty, the remaining places will be carried over to the next race, the Russian GP.
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