Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Williams driver Nicholas Latifi will both start Formula 1’s Dutch Grand Prix from the pitlane.
Perez had an early elimination from qualifying on Saturday that left him 16th on the grid.
He was set to need a fourth power unit later this year because of damage sustained to a previous unit in the Hungarian Grand Prix, and that would trigger grid penalties because it goes beyond his seasonal allocation.
Red Bull has decided to take those penalties here given he is starting so far down the order.
It allows Perez to introduce a fourth power unit into his pool to complete the rest of the season without penalties.
However, as the energy store Perez is switching to is a different specification to the one he had already, not just a fresh version, Red Bull has breached F1’s parc ferme rules and that mandates a pitlane start.
The same applies to Latifi, who has had to switch to a new front wing and nose assembly that is a different specification to the one he used in qualifying when he crashed heavily in Q2.
Latifi would have had a grid penalty anyway as he also needed a new gearbox after his crash.
