Starting grid - Austrian Grand Prix 2015 - Engine penalties hit hard as 20+ grid drops take place

Alonso and Button hit by engine penalties — Credit: McLaren/LAT Photographic

Whilst a mixed up grid can often provide a fascinating race weekend, there's no way it can reflect well on Formula One for drivers to be picking up grid place penalties that are routinely way more than the actual grid can handle. Daniel Ricciardo, Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso have all taken grid drops that will also be converted into early drive through penalties once the racing gets underway.

Daniel Kvyat also picked up a 10 place drop as the long-life engine regulations start to hit home. Red Bull knew going into the race weekend they would have to take some penalties, and McLaren weren't surprised considering their ongoing struggles with the Honda power unit.

Position	Driver	Team	Time	Laps
1	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	1:08.455	30
2	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	1:08.655	31
3	Sebastian Vettel	Scuderia Ferrari	1:08.810	21
4	Felipe Massa	Williams Martini Racing	1:09.192	27
5	Nico Hülkenberg	Sahara Force India F1 Team	1:09.278	22
6	Valtteri Bottas	Williams Martini Racing	1:09.319	26
7	Max Verstappen	Scuderia Toro Rosso	1:09.612	28
8	Felipe Nasr	Sauber F1 Team	1:09.713	29
9	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1 Team	No time	22
10	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus F1 Team	1:10.374	22
11	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber F1 Team	1:10.426	20
12	Carlos Sainz Jr	Scuderia Toro Rosso	1:10.465	23
13	Sergio Pérez	Sahara Force India F1 Team	1:12.522	13
14	Kimi Räikkönen	Scuderia Ferrari	1:12.867	10
15	Daniil Kvyat	Infiniti Red Bull Racing	1:09.694	32
16	Roberto Merhi	Manor Marussia F1 Team	1:14.071	12
17	Will Stevens	Manor Marussia F1 Team	1:15.368	11
18	Daniel Ricciardo	Infiniti Red Bull Racing	1:10.482	11
19	Fernando Alonso	McLaren Honda	1:10.736	22
20	Jenson Button	McLaren Honda	1:12.632	12

10 place drop for Daniel Ricciardo. A 5th ICE has been used by car 3. A 10 grid position penalty is imposed, as this is the first time a 5th power unit element has been used.
20 place drop for Fernando Alonso. A 5th ICE, 5th TC and 5th MGU-H have been used by car 14. A 10 grid position penalty is imposed, as this is the first time a 5th power unit element has been used, and two further 5 grid position penalties are imposed for the TC and MGU-H as this is the first time a 5th of any of the remaining elements have been used.
10 place drop for Daniil Kvyat. A 5th ICE has been used by car 26. A 10 grid position penalty is imposed, as this is the first time a 5th power unit element has been used.
25 place drop for Jenson Button. A 6th TC, 6th MGU-H, 5th ICE and 5th MGU-K have been used by car 22. A 10 grid position penalty is imposed, as this is the first time a 6th power unit element has been used. A further 5 grid position penalty is imposed for the MGU-H as this is the first time a 6th of any of the remaining elements have been used.Two 5 grid position penalties are also imposed for the ICE and MGU-K as this is the first time a 5th of any of the remaining elements have been used.
5 place drop for Fernando Alonso. The gearbox of car 14 has been changed before 6 consecutive events have expired.