Sebastian Vettel will become the latest Mercedes engine runner to take a grid penalty, when he changes components on his Aston Martin at this weekend’s United States Grand Prix.
Vettel revealed the impending penalty in a media session at Austin on Thursday, before details of engine component changes had been published by the FIA.
So it is not yet clear whether he will take a full set of new parts and drop right to the back of the grid, or just change his car’s internal combustion engine (ICE) and take a 10-place grid penalty.
The weakness Mercedes is monitoring in its power unit package is in the ICE itself, and has led to penalties for works drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas over the last month.
Vettel had a failure in his power unit during practice at Zandvoort in September.
