John N
The 2022 Formula One season is only five races old, but several drivers are already on the cusp of an engine penalty. The power unit rules for 2022 are complex, with drivers allowed to use some elements more than others throughout the campaign.
For example, while they can use only two Energy Stores (ES) and Control Electronics (CE), they may use up to eight Exhaust Systems (EX). The most crucial elements have a limit of three, as with the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE), Turbocharger (TC), MHU-H, and MGU-K.
There are already two drivers who have filled up their allocation on the three components above and will incur a penalty if they are forced to make a further change (unless they have previously used a part that counts towards this number). Those drivers are Fernando Alonso and Yuki Tsunoda.
Valtteri Bottas is not far behind and will face a penalty should he swap either his Turbocharger or his MGU-H for a new one. Likewise, Carlos Sainz, Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Kevin Magnussen, and Mick Schumacher are all perilously close to incurring penalties.
Here is a driver-by-driver breakdown for the season:
NUMBER OF POWER UNIT ELEMENTS USED PER DRIVER
| Driver | ICE (3) | TC (3) | MGU-H (3) | MGU-K (3) | ES (2) | CE (2) | EX (8) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Russell | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Hamilton | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Verstappen | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Perez | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Leclerc | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Sainz | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Ricciardo | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Norris | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Alonso | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Ocon | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Gasly | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Tsunoda | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Stroll | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Vettel | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Albon | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Latifi | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Bottas | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Zhou | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Magnussen | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Schumacher | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
