Part changes put Bottas on penalty limit

Mercedes has changed the control electronics and energy store in Bottas’s car, as well as its gearbox, after the Finn crashed heavily exiting Turn 1 in Q3 on Saturday.

Although a three engine per season rule has been imposed for 2018, the limit for the control electronics and energy store has gone down to two.

This means the use of a third item at any of the remaining 20 races will trigger a grid penalty.

Though both parts took a heavy hit in the accident, and come as a combined module, has only been removed as a precaution pending further inspection at Mercedes’ Brixworth facility.

The team made the decision late on Saturday evening.

A Mercedes source suggested the team remains optimistic both items will be passed fit after inspection and returned to the pool, leaving Bottas with two for the remainder of the season.

However, any new version of either component will now result in a grid drop, whereas his rivals still have new ones in hand.

The FIA has also confirmed Bottas will take a five-place grid penalty, which will drop him to 15th place for Sunday’s race.

Final grid positions:

Pos	#	Driver	Chassis	Engine
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	Mercedes
2	7	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	Ferrari
3	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	Ferrari
4	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	TAG
5	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	Ferrari
6	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas	Ferrari
7	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	Renault
8	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull	TAG
9	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Renault	Renault
10	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	Renault
11	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren	Renault
12	11	Sergio Perez	Force India	Mercedes
13	18	Lance Stroll	Williams	Mercedes
14	31	Esteban Ocon	Force India	Mercedes
15	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	Mercedes
16	28	Brendon Hartley	Toro Rosso	Honda
17	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	Ferrari
18	16	Charles Leclerc	Sauber	Ferrari
19	35	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams	Mercedes
20	10	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	Honda