F1 drivers facing potential grid penalties after 2022 season summer break

With the 2022 F1 season in full swing and set to return to racing at the famed Circuit de Spa Francorchamps this weekend for the Belgian Grand Prix, drivers and teams are gearing up to go racing. This comes after a nearly month-long break. Thirteen races into the season with ten more to go, the driver's championship standings are led by Red Bull Racing's Max Vertappen. Ferrari and Charles Leclerc failed to mount a significant attack on the Milton Keynes-based racing outfit.

After kicking off the year in spectacular fashion with a 1-2 finish in Bahrain, Ferrari's 2022 season was compromised before the summer break due to various reasons. Driver errors, questionable strategic calls, and mechanical failures sit atop that list.

Every driver on the F1 grid is allowed a certain number of power unit components over the season. The Internal Combustion Engine (ICE), Energy Store (ES), Turbo Charger (TC) and Exhaust System (EX) are some of the few components that make up a complete power unit. Leclerc, who has already taken on a penalty for using more than the allocated parts in his engine, served a penalty during the Canadian Grand Prix weekend. He now looks set for the latter half of the 2022 season.

However, numerous other drivers are yet to take on a fresh engine and/or engine components in the second half of the year, with 10-place grid penalites looming over half their heads.

F1 drivers facing potential grid penalties

The 2022 allocation of power unit components stands as follows:

Component	Allocation
Internal Combustion Engine (ICE)	3
Motor generator units-heat (MGU-H)	3
Motor generator units-kinetic (MGU-K)	3
Turbo Charger (TC)	3
Energy store (ES)	2
Control Electronics (CE)	2
Exhaust (EX)	8

The following drivers are most likely to receive a 10-place grid penalty as they take on a new power unit and/or power unit components at the Belgian Grand Prix or the weekends that follow:

7. Zhou Guanyu

The rookie driver, who drives alongside Valterri Bottas at Alfa Romeo Orlen, is expected to take on a grid penalty as he sits on his final allocation of ICE, TC, MHU-H and MGU-K.

6. Mick Schumacher

Mick Schumacher will now be dropping ten places on any particular weekend as the german sits on his third and last allocated ICE, TC, MGU-H and MGU-K.

5. Pierre Gasly

Scuderia Alpha Tauri's Pierre Gasly will be expecting to receive a grid penalty any time after the summer break, just like his teammate Yuki Tsunoda did before the break. The Frenchman has used up three of his allocated ICE, TC, MGU-H and MGU-K.

4. Esteban Ocon

Alpine F1 driver Esteban Ocon also sits on the verge of a penalty with three of his allocated ICE, TC, MGU-H and MGU-K used up with ten races still to go.

3. Lando Norris

McLaren driver Lando Norris is also in the same boat as his peers with the english driver having used up three ICE, TC, MGU-H and MGU-K.

2. Sergio Perez

Probable championship contender and a key element in Red Bull Racing's constructor title aspirations, Sergio Perez is set to drop ten places any time soon with three of his ICE, TC, MGU-H and MGU-K used up.

1. Max Verstappen

Defending F1 world champion Max Verstappen is also one of the key names to take on his engine penalties post summer break with three of his ICE, TC, MGU-H and MGU-K already used. Charles Leclerc, his closest title rival, has already taken these penalties before the start of the summer break.

Watch F1 return after the summer break this Sunday as drivers compete in the Belgian Grand Prix at Circuit de Spa Francorchamps.