Colapinto faces 15-place grid drop at Malaysian GP after engine penalty compounds Baku punishment

Franco Colapinto is set to start the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia from the back row after accumulating a total 15-place grid penalty, with Alpine electing to fit a fifth Mercedes V6 engine at Sepang and absorb an additional 10-place drop on top of the five places he already owed from last weekend.

The Argentine driver arrived in Malaysia already penalised for causing a collision with Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris in Baku. With a difficult recovery to the points already likely, Alpine judged it sensible to introduce the new internal combustion engine now rather than take the hit at a more competitive round. Exceeding the annual allowance of four power unit components triggers an automatic 10-place penalty under F1 regulations.

The timing is particularly costly for Alpine in the constructors’ championship. The team is locked in a tight battle with Racing Bulls for fifth place, and the Baku incident proved damaging — rather than closing the gap, Alpine’s deficit to Racing Bulls grew to 15 points in Azerbaijan as their rivals capitalised on Colapinto’s retirement.

Team-mate Gasly is also expected to take a fresh power unit in the coming races, though Alpine has not yet confirmed when that change will be made or which event will absorb the associated grid penalty.

Colapinto is not alone in taking penalties at Sepang. Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad will also start from the back of the grid after taking a new engine, turbocharger and exhaust, while Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar drops five places for introducing his seventh V6 of the season.