Hamilton, Leclerc and Verstappen hit with F1 grid penalties for Brazilian GP

Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen will all serve grid penalties for engine changes at Formula 1's Brazilian Grand Prix.

Following a tough set of Friday practice sessions, Ferrari has decided to perform a planned engine change on both Hamilton and Leclerc’s SF-26, costing them a 10-place grid penalty each for the Interlagos race. The Scuderia has decided to use a new internal combustion engine.

Meanwhile for Verstappen, it involves a complete power unit change and therefore a penalty to the very back of the grid.

Red Bull indicated earlier this weekend that it wanted to wait as long as possible before making a potential power unit change. Ahead of the weekend, the Milton Keynes-based outfit said that a change was not yet necessary at Interlagos, but that assessment changed on Friday.

Verstappen encountered several 'small issues', which also contributed to him sitting out the final six minutes of the second practice session. Although Red Bull initially attributed that purely to 'inconsistencies', the explanation already sounded strange at the time.

After all, ending practice early also meant Verstappen gave up the opportunity to carry out a practice start on the slightly uphill grid, while Red Bull's starts have not always been outstanding this year. After Verstappen climbed out of his RB22, mechanics were immediately seen working underneath the car.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images

On Friday evening, Red Bull broke the curfew, after which the complete engine change was officially confirmed on Saturday.

It means Verstappen faces another fight through the field in Sao Paulo, where he has plenty of experience with it. Last year, for example, he drove from the pitlane to the podium, while in 2024 he won from 17th on the grid, effectively ending Lando Norris's title ambitions that year. In 2016, Verstappen also produced a memorable comeback drive in the rain during the closing stages, although that followed a wrong tyre choice by Red Bull.

Hamilton, too, is of course no stranger to legendary comeback drives in Brazil. In 2021, he also had to fight his way through the field, something he managed twice in hugely impressive fashion. The seven-time world champion climbed from 20th to fifth in the sprint race. For the main race, he was dropped back to 10th on the grid, but even that could not stop him from taking victory.

This time, Hamilton's employer, now Ferrari, is having a much tougher time at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace. Leclerc described it as one of the most difficult Fridays of the year, after which team principal Frederic Vasseur also concluded that there was still plenty of work to do.

“We know that we have a lot to do on the balance," Vasseur said. "The balance was not good. I think the tarmac is the opposite of one week ago. It's creating a lot of work to do.

"The drivers were not happy. Charles didn't do FP1 this morning. We had a couple of issues today and I think a lot of work to prepare tomorrow. The weather forecast for tomorrow and Sunday is so-so, so I think that we have to be prepared for all the conditions. But I'm not less optimistic than last week."

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Photo by: Michael Potts / LAT images via Getty Images

One possible silver lining for both drivers is that a wet race is still forecast, which could potentially help their charge through the field.

Sergio Perez has also been equipped with a new internal combustion engine, turbocharger, and MGU-K, and therefore will also start from the back for Sunday's race.