Liam Lawson will start the United States Grand Prix from the back of the grid after several engine components in his RB F1 were changed, meaning the New Zealander was heavily penalized.
Lawson returns this weekend to replace Daniel Ricciardo at the team for the remainder of the season, news which was confirmed in the days following the Singapore Grand Prix.
Although this is the 22-year-old’s first outing this season, Lawson has inherited the pool of components previously used by Ricciardo, meaning replacing many of them penalizes him.
The technical delegate’s report published after the free tests confirmed that the RB F1 n°30 was equipped with a new internal combustion engine (ICE), a turbocharger (TC), a thermal unit (MGU- H), a kinetic unit (MGU-K), a battery (ES) and an electronic control system (CE), all of which exceeded the authorized allocation for the season.
As such, this resulted in a penalty that will drop Lawson to the back of the pack for Sunday’s race at the Circuit of the Americas, the stewards confirmed. 60 places in all!
The report also confirmed that its RB F1 has received a new exhaust system but, as this is its fifth of eight allocated, this does not add a penalty. Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly, who are also using a new exhaust system this weekend, are also both within their allocation.
Lawson finished his first practice session of 2024 in 13th position on the timesheet.
