Red Bull Formula 1 driver Alex Albon will be hit with a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change, dropping him from 10th to 15th for the start of the Russian Grand Prix.
FIA stewards have confirmed that Albon’s team has made the change, with the standard five-place penalty set to follow given gearboxes must last six events.
Albon was 10th fastest in qualifying having lapped 1.141s off team-mate Max Verstappen with a lap that he suggested didn’t feel too bad, saying that the tyres might not have been in the right window on such a thermally-sensitive circuit.
Albon’s misfortune promotes Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc to 10th on the grid, with Daniil Kvyat, Lance Stroll, George Russell and Sebastian Vettel also moving up a place.
Williams driver Nicholas Latifi has also had a gearbox change, which is set to relegate him from 19th to 20th on the grid.
Latifi had braking troubles in qualifying on Saturday, abandoning his first Q1 lap after Turn 2 and then struggling on his second and setting a time just over a second off team-mate George Russell.
This moves Kimi Raikkonen up to 19th on the grid for his record-equalling 322nd F1 race start after a spin at Turn 2 on his final Q1 run left him slowest.
