Quebecer Lance Stroll will be forced to start the Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix from the back of the starting grid due to several changes made to his car.
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By making modifications to his car for the weekend, the Aston Martin team driver has exceeded the number of powertrain parts allowed this season. His racing car required a change in the internal combustion engine (ICE), the heat recovery system (MGU-H), the turbo and the electronic management system (CE).
Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri) will also start Sunday’s race at the end of the peloton for the same reasons.
In Friday’s first free practice session, Stroll put his new Mercedes engine to the test by completing 27 laps at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City. His best time recorded was 1 min 20.030 s, which gave him 13th place.
“Since we expected to start the race from the back of the grid due to the thruster block change penalties, we focused on the long runs and race speed today. [vendredi], so it was a different program than usual, ”commented Stroll, quoted by his team’s website.
The Quebecer was 1.689 s slower than the best driver of the session, Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes), who edged his teammate Lewis Hamilton by less than a tenth of a second.
Stroll’s sidekick at Aston Martin, Sebastian Vettel, put in the 10th time at 1: 19.858.
Most of the drivers were faster in the second practice session. The 23-year-old driver slashed a few tenths from his time, but only took 17th place. Vettel, meanwhile, settled in ninth position.
“The aim is to make sure that we are in a good position to fight among the field on Sunday,” concluded Stroll, who will compete in qualifying on Saturday.