Alpine have changed the engine in Esteban Ocon's car after it caught fire at the end of Saturday's Sprint race.
The A522 set alight in the pit lane shortly after he got out of it at the end of the session. Marshals moved quickly to put out the flames, but it seems they did not get to it in time to prevent the power unit from taking damage.
Alpine released a statement on Sunday morning in which they said they had made the change, and that they had identified a suspected cause of the blaze. As the engine fitted is a one previously used by Ocon earlier in the season, he will not incur a grid penalty.
"As a result of the fuel leak on Esteban’s car after Saturday's sprint qualifying [race] and the subsequent damage caused by the fire, the team has changed his PU for today's race from his pool," the team's statement said. "This means he will not take a grid penalty and will start today's race from 17th place. The damaged parts on the chassis have also been replaced."
So Ocon will keep his place in the 17th grid slot, though there will only be 15 cars in front of him with Yuki Tsunoda starting from the pit lane for changes made to his floor and front and rear wings. Fernando Alonso will start one place behind, after a time penalty in the Sprint from the incident involving the two Alpine drivers.
They made contact on the first lap, which left Alonso in need of a new front wing. The floor of Ocon's car also took damage, and so despite starting sixth and seventh on the grid they both limped home well outside the points positions.
Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer was angry, and gave the two drivers a public dressing down. "We are extremely disappointed with today's Sprint Qualifying result, which has put us in a worse position on the grid for tomorrow's main race," he said.
"We are in a very tight and competitive championship fight for fourth place in the constructors' championship – an objective for which over 1,000 staff are tirelessly working and striving towards. Frankly, both Esteban and Fernando must do a better job to compliment the fantastic efforts of everyone in the team by avoiding on-track incidents and compromising the entire team's performance.
"Today, both drivers have let the team down. I expect more from them tomorrow where we must do everything we can to recover some points from the weekend for the championship. We aim to ensure we go to Abu Dhabi next weekend in a position where we can reach our season goals. Tomorrow is a new day."
