Norris demoted to P19 for Sakhir GP start after power unit change

McLaren driver Lando Norris has been relegated to 19th on the grid after the team fitted a new internal combustion engine and turbocharger ahead of the Sakhir Grand Prix.

Norris qualified 15th for the penultimate race of the season while team-mate Carlos Sainz managed to reach Q3 and will start from eighth.

Although putting his disappointing qualifying pace down to a series of small errors and not a power unit problem, the Briton had suffered an issue in practice two which forced him to sit out much of the session.

In making the changes to his car, Norris has taken his fourth ICE and turbocharger for the year, both of which sit outside the permitted number of components available for use across the year.

The changes mean Norris will likely be handed a grid penalty which will see him line up alongside debutant Pietro Fittipaldi on the back row.

Norris only remains ahead of Fittipaldi as the Brazilian inherited the engine penalties applied to the car of Romain Grosjean after a full change was required in the wake of the Frenchman's horrific crash one week ago.

Benefiting from the situation are Kevin Magnussen, Nicholas Latifi, Jack Aitken and Kimi Raikkonen, all of whom will climb a position on the starting grid.

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