Pascal Wehrlein will take a five-place grid penalty for the Japanese Grand Prix after changing his gearbox. Felipe Massa and Kevin Magnussen also found themselves in trouble after qualifying, but have only been given reprimands for the less serious offences.
Manor changed Wehrlein’s gearbox before the final practice session this morning as a precaution. There was no fault with the gearbox, but a potential sequence of events could have led to a failure. The team thought if better to be safe than sorry.
Because the rules forbid a gearbox being changed if it has not been used in six consecutive races – besides exceptional circumstances – Wehrlein was handed a five-place penalty. That puts him at the back of the grid for tomorrow’s race.
Massa and Magnussen were called to the stewards after qualifying, for returning to the pits too slowly after their final segments of qualifying. Luckily for the drivers, neither were deemed to have impeded another driver on their leisurely drives to the pits, so avoided more serious punishments.
Sebastian Vettel also takes a three-grid penalty for causing a collision in Malaysia.
