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Stoffel Vandoorne gets Italian GP F1 engine change grid penalty

Stoffel Vandoorne will take a grid penalty for the Italian Grand Prix after Honda decided to change his Formula 1 engine ahead of the race

The Belgian had looked set for his equal best start position of the year, having been eighth on the provisional grid, but problems with his McLaren's power unit had struck in Q3.

Investigations after qualifying identified a problem with the MGU-K shaft, which was costing Vandoorne performance.

Although it was theoretically possible for the team to replace the MGU-K shaft without incurring a penalty, Honda felt that there was not enough time to do so before the start of the race.

Instead, Honda has elected to fit a new 3.7 spec internal combustion engine, MGU-K, MGU-H and turbocharger - which will hand the Belgian a 25-place grid penalty.

The drop is set to leave Vandoorne starting 18th on the grid, ahead of team-mate Fernando Alonso, who has had a 35-place grid penalty, and Romain Grosjean who has been allowed to start the race despite his crash in qualifying leaving him outside of the 107% cut-off.

Vandoorne is the seventh driver to suffer engine related grid penalties this weekend.

Revised Italian GP grid

Pos Driver Car Time Gap
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m35.554s -
2 Lance Stroll Williams/Mercedes 1m37.032s 1.478s
3 Esteban Ocon Force India/Mercedes 1m37.719s 2.165s
4 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1m37.833s 2.279s
5 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m37.987s 2.433s
6 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m38.064s 2.510s
7 Felipe Massa Williams/Mercedes 1m38.251s 2.697s
8 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso/Renault 1m38.245s 2.691s
9 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1m40.489s 4.935s
10 Sergio Perez Force India/Mercedes 1m37.582s 2.028s
11 Marcus Ericsson Sauber/Ferrari 1m41.732s 6.178s
12 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber/Ferrari 1m41.875s 6.321s
13 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Renault 1m36.702s 1.148s
14 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1m38.059s 2.505s
15 Carlos Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso/Renault 1m38.526s 2.972s
16 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull/Renault 1m36.841s 1.287s
17 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1m40.646s 5.092s
18 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren/Honda 1m39.157s 3.603s
19 Fernando Alonso McLaren/Honda 1m38.202s 2.648s
20 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 1m43.355s 7.801s

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