It's only the sixth race of 2018, but already things are getting serious for a number of drivers when it comes to power unit elements.
This season, drivers are allowed only three of each of the core components of their power units. As soon as they have to take a fourth of any of them, the grid penalties start piling up.
Each item has to last for 21 races, which means on average that they have to last seven races before being replaced. Heading into Monaco, that means everyone should still be on their first set of components.
But that's emphatically not the case!
Toro Rosso's Brendon Hartley is in the worst position. He's already taken three turbochargers and three MGU-H this season - one more and he'll start dropping down the grid.
The Kiwi has also taken two engines, two MGU-K, two energy stores and two control electronics units. That leaves him just one more before he goes over his allowed limit.
Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo is in almost as bad a position as Hartley, having used two of everything so far.
Kevin Magnussen is next up. He and his Haas team mate Romain Grosjean have both come to Monaco with a new engine, turbocharger and MGU-H. That means Magnussen has now used two of everything with the exception of the MGU-K where he's still on his first edition.
Fellow Ferrari customer team Sauber has deployed the same raft of upgrades for Marcus Ericsson and Charles Leclerc this weekend. That puts them on the same footing as Grosjean, and also Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and Toro Rosso's Pierre Gasly.
Only four drivers teams have avoided any upgrades so far: Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton, Force India's Esteban Ocon, and the two Williams of Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin have all kept a clean sheet up to now.
Power Element Usage
| Driver | ICE | TC | MGU-H | MGU-K | ES | CE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercedes | ||||||
| Lewis Hamilton | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Valtteri Bottas | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Ferrari | ||||||
| Sebastian Vettel | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Kimi Räikkönen | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Red Bull/TAG Heuer | ||||||
| Daniel Ricciardo | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Max Verstappen | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Force India/Mercedes | ||||||
| Sergio Pérez | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Esteban Ocon | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Williams/Mercedes | ||||||
| Lance Stroll | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Sergey Sirotkin | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Renault | ||||||
| Nico Hülkenberg | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Carlos Sainz | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Toro Rosso/Honda | ||||||
| Brendon Hartley | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Pierre Gasly | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Haas/Ferrari | ||||||
| Romain Grosjean | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Kevin Magnussen | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| McLaren/Renault | ||||||
| Fernando Alonso | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Stoffel Vandoorne | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Sauber/Ferrari | ||||||
| Marcus Ericsson | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Charles Leclerc | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Notes:
- ICE: Internal Combustion Engine
- TC: Turbo Charger
- MGU-H: Motor Generator Unit – Heat
- MGU-K: Motor Generator Unit – Kinetic
- ES: Energy Store
- CE: Control Electronics
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