Alonso set to grid penalty after the F1 engine change at COTA

The Spaniard had a difficult start to the Austin weekend after stopping at the start of free practice with a suspected water leak on the track.

While Alonso was able to get back on track, it turned out that Alpine wasn’t confident of making it through the weekend without the risk of further problems.

Regarding what happened yesterday, Alonso said, “I think there was something in the water system so we had to stop because the engine was running without water at that point.

“They did a good job fixing the problem and still did a few laps in FP1.”

Before the last training session in Austin, Alpine decided on a completely new unit.

This means that Alonso will bring a fresh internal combustion engine, a turbocharger, MGU-H, MGU-K, energy storage, control electronics and exhaust for qualifying and the race.

Fernando Alonso, Alps A521

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

With so many additional grid penalties for the new components, it means Alonso will automatically get a back-of-the-grid start.

Alonso’s engine change comes at a time in the championship when many drivers are using new engines.

Valtteri Bottas from Mercedes takes a starting position of five places in Austin after a fresh internal combustion engine.

It’s his sixth ICE of the season, with Mercedes having some headaches with the reliability of its turbo-hybrid engines.

There remain question marks whether world champion Lewis Hamilton will survive the end of the campaign without further changes.

Sebsatian Vettel and George Russell also got new Mercedes engines this weekend and have to start from the end of the grid.

The last starting positions between the rear trio are determined by the fastest times from qualifying.