The Mexican pilot Red Bull Sergio Perez will take a grid penalty at the Formula One United States Grand Prix after starting Friday practice with a fresh engine.
Perez is second overall, just one point ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc with four races remaining, in a championship already won by his Dutch team-mate Max Verstappen for the second year in a row.
Red Bull is hoping to clinch the constructors’ world championship for the first time since 2013 at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin. For that not to happen in Texas, Ferrari needs to add 19 points more than Red Bull.
The FIA said Pérez used his fifth internal combustion engine of the season, which means a drop of five places from where he qualifies on Saturday, although it will also give him better options for the race in Mexico the following weekend.
Alfa Romeo’s Guanyu Zhou will also face a similar relegation for the same reason.
