Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, Circuit de Catalunya, 2019

Kvyat to start at back of grid after power unit change

2019 French Grand Prix

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Daniil Kvyat will start the French Grand Prix from the back of the grid after taking a complete new power unit for this weekend’s race.

The Toro Rosso driver has taken a new engine, turbocharger, MGU-H, MGU-K, energy store and control electronics. As he has now used more engines, MGU-Ks, energy stores and control electronics than permitted by the rules he will incur a grid penalty totalling more than 15 places, meaning he has to start the race from the back of the grid.

Kvyat is the only one of the two Toro Rosso drivers using Honda’s upgrade power unit this weekend. Both Red Bull drivers have taken new engines, turbochargers and MGU-Hs but will not incur any penalties.

Renault has also introduced a new engine but will only run it in Daniel Ricciardo’s car. Nico Hulkenberg has already exceeded the maximum number of engine changes he can make without a penalty.

Power unit components used as of first practice for the French Grand Prix

No.CarEngineDriverICETCMGU-HMGU-KESCE
27RenaultRenaultNico Hulkenberg444323
26Toro RossoHondaDaniil Kvyat433333
55McLarenRenaultCarlos Sainz Jnr333222
3RenaultRenaultDaniel Ricciardo333222
33Red BullHondaMax Verstappen333222
10Red BullHondaPierre Gasly333222
18Racing PointMercedesLance Stroll333211
23Toro RossoHondaAlexander Albon322222
99Alfa RomeoFerrariAntonio Giovinazzi222123
20HaasFerrariKevin Magnussen222123
4McLarenRenaultLando Norris222222
63WilliamsMercedesGeorge Russell222122
8HaasFerrariRomain Grosjean222122
7Alfa RomeoFerrariKimi Raikkonen222122
5FerrariFerrariSebastian Vettel222112
16FerrariFerrariCharles Leclerc222112
11Racing PointMercedesSergio Perez222111
77MercedesMercedesValtteri Bottas222111
31WilliamsMercedesRobert Kubica222111
44MercedesMercedesLewis Hamilton222111

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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3 comments on “Kvyat to start at back of grid after power unit change”

  1. Interesting. Bit of a shame for Kvyat, as points look like a realistic outcome for Toro Rosso here.

    The “interesting” part for me, however, is the fact that this represents the first meaningful piece of information concerning the reliability of the Honda PU in 2019. Kvyat has been able to complete 7 race weekends (out of 21) without exceeding the maximum amount of engine components. Compare that to last year’s engine usage by Toro Rosso (Brendon Hartley used 8 engines in the first 11 races), and you can’t help but notice that they have in fact improved considerably.
    Last year, I remarked that:

    Honda have to improve their reliability by a factor of 4 to 6 to get in the mix with the big names.

    With Kvyat, they’re still off that goal by a factor of 3. In other words, it’s bittersweet. Clearly improved but still a long way behind. And it’s not like Kvyat is an extreme outlier, his fellow Honda users are right on his tail.

    1. or they want a head to head comparison with the old engine?

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