Leclerc the only driver to start with a fresh power unit at Zandvoort

The Dutch Grand Prix saw Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc start to use his fourth and last power unit of his allocation, with the change putting the Monegasque on the verge of potential grid drop penalties. F1Technical’s lead journalist Balazs Szabo reports from Zandvoort.

For the 11th year running, the 2024 F1 cars are powered by V6 hybrid turbo power units with 1.6-litre engines. This season represents the penultimate year the current engine configuration appears before being replaced by a new power unit formula in 2026.

Current F1 power units feature seven elements: the internal combustion engine (ICE), motor generator unit-heat (MGU-H), motor generator unit-kinetic (MGU-K), turbocharger, energy store (ES), control electronics (CE) and exhaust.

Over the course of the 2024 season, a driver may use no more than four ICEs, MGU-Hs, MGU-Ks and turbochargers, two energy stores and control electronics, and eight of each of the four elements that make up a set of exhaust systems (comprising primaries left-hand side, primaries right-hand side, secondary LHS and secondary RHS).

Ferrari has elected to equip Charles Leclerc’s car with multiple fresh power unit components. The Monegasque has received a new internal combustion engine, a new turbocharger and MGU-K.

All these elements are Leclerc’s fourth unit with only four components permitted for a driver to complete the season. It means that it is highly likely that the six-time F1 race winner will be forced to take additional power unit components, and thus serving a grid-drop penalty. The United States Grand Prix might be the best place to perform the additional change given the layout of the track.

The Ferrari driver also received a new exhaust system which is his fifth unit, leaving him with three new ones to see out the season.

Red Bull racer Sergio Perez has also been given a new exhaust system, but it is his seventh new unit, meaning that he will only have one more fresh unit to complete the remaining ten races of the year.