The FIA has confirmed grid penalties for three F1 drivers at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.
After two practice sessions on Friday, the FIA has released documentation detailing separate grid penalties for three drivers at Sepang. These penalties are all related to power unit penalties that will drop the affected drivers several places, no matter how they fare during qualifying on Saturday.
Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) - Five-place grid penalty
French driver Isack Hadjar is coming off a high from last week. He returned to the grid after a three-race injury layoff, signed a contract extension that will secure his 2027 Red Bull seat, and finished on the podium in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
However, Hadjar will take a setback in Malaysia, even before qualifying begins. Red Bull has fitted Hadjar's car with its seventh internal combustion engine (ICE) of 2026. The sporting regulations only allow four ICEs in a single season.
Exceeding the ICE allocation for the first time brings a 10-place grid penalty. Further infringements for the same violation add five places.
Still, Hadjar has proven that he can storm through the grid, even if he is starting from the back. During the Belgian Grand Prix this year, he qualified P10 but started P21 after taking a grid penalty. He stormed back into the points and finished sixth.
Moreover, Hadjar has finished at least P6 in his last eight races. The Frenchman will surely recover easily from this five-place penalty.
Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) - 30-place grid penalty
Unfortunately for Arvid Lindblad, he will start at the back of the grid even if he does well in qualifying. He receives the most severe sanction of the three penalized drivers, as he's set to exceed these allocations:
- Fifth ICE (10-place grid penalty)
- Fifth turbocharger (10-place penalty)
- Fifth exhaust (10-place penalty)
The resulting penalties for the rookie driver add up to 30 places.
The penalty could potentially affect Lindblad's recent good momentum. He has scored in the last three races, capped by a seventh-place finish at Baku.
Since he's starting at the back of the grid, expect Lindblad to provide some assistance to teammate Liam Lawson in qualifying. The team will surely have Lindblad provide a tow for Lawson, especially if the two drivers qualify for the last session on Saturday.
Franco Colapinto (Alpine) - 15-place grid penalty
The Argentine driver drew the ire of teammate Pierre Gasly and McLaren's Lando Norris for causing a reckless collision at Baku. Franco Colapinto has since apologized for the mishap, but he'll still receive a five-place penalty as punishment for the collision.
Alpine has also chosen this weekend to give Colapinto his fifth ICE, which adds 10 places to his penalty. It won't automatically mean that Colapinto will start at the back of the grid, but it's still a substantial penalty that will make it harder for him to score points.
