An extra power-unit element costs 10 places first, then five for later extras of that type.
The FIA limits how many specified power-unit elements each Formula 1 driver may use during the Championship. The penalty is triggered when an additional element is first used, not when mechanics merely install it.
The ruleset used on this page
This page applies only to the 2026 FIA Formula One World Championship. It was checked against FIA F1 Regulations Section A, Issue 03; Section B (Sporting), Issue 08; and Section C (Technical), Issue 20. Section A Article A9.1.1 makes the 2026 regulations effective from 1 January 2026 for the 2026 calendar year. Sporting Issue 08 and Technical Issue 20 are dated 5 August 2026 and record World Motor Sport Council approval on 3 August 2026.
The controlling provisions are Sporting Articles B8.2.2–B8.2.11 for power-unit usage, B2.5.4 for the Race grid, B2.4.3 for qualifying classification, and B3.5 for parc fermé. Appendix C4 to the Technical Regulations defines which physical parts belong to each element and which are PU ancillary components.
Pool overuse and parc fermé are not the same rule
A team can fit another element from within the driver's permitted pool without receiving a power-unit grid penalty. Conversely, using an element beyond the pool creates the Article B8.2.8 Race grid penalty even if the replacement work is otherwise permitted.
Parc fermé asks a different question: was the work or change authorised after the car entered parc fermé? A breach of Article B3.5.3 produces a pit-lane start—Race at a standard-format Competition, or Sprint and/or Race at an alternative-format Competition depending on when the breach occurred. Do not describe every late engine change as an automatic pit-lane start.
The effective 2026 allowance
Article B8.2.2 sets the ordinary limit and Article B8.2.3 gives one additional unit of every listed type in the 2026 Championship. The resulting 2026 figures are:
ICE, TC and EXH
Four internal combustion engines (ICE), four turbochargers (TC), and four exhaust sets (EXH) are available in 2026 after the one-unit addition. The four constituent parts of an exhaust set—left and right primaries and left and right secondaries—are considered separately for usage accounting.
ES, PU-CE and MGU-K
Three energy-store units (ES), three of each control-electronics unit (PU-CE), and three MGU-K units are available in 2026. The 2026 rules do not contain the former MGU-H category.
PU ancillary components
The limit is six of each component marked “YES” in Appendix C4's PU-ANC column, not six ancillaries total. Examples in Issue 20 include specified ICE-mounted pumps, intake components, high-pressure fuel-system parts, fuel injectors, the main PU oil tank and the breather system.
Usage is assessed by driver, with a replacement rule
Sporting Article B8.2.2 expresses the limits per driver. Article B8.2.7 then prevents a driver change from creating a fresh pool: the replacement is deemed to be the original driver for assessing power-unit usage. In practical terms, a substitute stepping into a car inherits the usage record applicable to the driver being replaced for that Competitor.
The rule also flags the special situation in which a driver races for more than one Competitor during the Championship. Do not assume that a driver's previous team's physical elements can simply move with the driver; the FIA's official usage record and Article B8.2.7 determine the applicable account.
Appendix C4 defines the sealed perimeter
“Engine,” “turbocharger” and the other labels are regulatory groupings, not casual names for any related part. Sporting Article B8.2.2 incorporates Appendix C4's “PU Element,” “Sealed Perimeter” and “PU-ANC” columns. A part marked inside a sealed element is treated with that element unless the table or a specific exception says otherwise.
This matters when a small part fails. Replacing a part does not necessarily consume a complete new ICE or ES: the answer depends on its Appendix C4 classification, the seal, and whether Articles B8.2.4, B8.2.5, B8.2.10 or B8.2.11 applies.
When the penalty is triggered
An additional element is first “used” when the car's timing transponder shows that it has left the Pit Lane with that element fitted.
Fitting is not yet use
A team announcement, a garage installation or an FIA document recording an intended change does not by itself satisfy Article B8.2.8's use test. If the element is removed before the car leaves the Pit Lane, that provision has not yet deemed it used.
One departure is enough
Once the transponder records the car leaving the Pit Lane, the element is used. The rule does not require a flying lap, a qualifying time, a Sprint start or a Race start, and it does not depend on how many laps the element survives.
The Race penalty belongs to that event
The grid penalty is imposed at the first Competition in which each additional element is used. Article B8.2.8 expressly states a penalty “for the race”; introducing an extra element on a Sprint weekend does not convert the power-unit penalty into a Sprint grid drop.
“First” is tested separately for every type
- First additional element of a type: ten Race grid places.
- Each later additional element of that same type: five Race grid places.
- Additional elements of different types: add the penalties. A first excess ICE and first excess MGU-K therefore total 20 places.
- Exactly 15 unserved places: the ordinary temporary-position procedure still applies. The back-of-classified-grid group begins only above 15.
The first excess ICE does not turn a later first excess turbocharger into a five-place penalty. Each listed element type has its own first-extra test.
Teams cannot bank several penalty-free extras
If a driver introduces more than one penalised element of the same type at one Competition, Article B8.2.8 says only the last element fitted may be used at later Competitions without another penalty.
For example, if two excess ICE units are introduced during one event, both introductions are assessed under the cumulative 10/5-place table, but only the last fitted ICE gains the right to be reused later without a further grid penalty. Reusing the earlier one at a later Competition is not protected by that sentence.
How to analyse a power-unit change
- Name the exact element. Use Appendix C4, including its sealed-perimeter and PU-ANC classifications; do not decide from a broadcast shorthand such as “new engine.”
- Identify the driver's applicable pool. Account for the 2026 additional unit and any driver replacement under B8.2.7.
- Count prior used elements of that exact type. The transponder's Pit Lane departure is the use point.
- Check an express exception. Transfers of PU-ANC components, FIA action for specified components, excluded parts and approved Minor Parts can change the answer.
- Classify the excess. The first additional element of that type is 10 Race places; a later one is five. Add penalties from every excess element.
- Apply the same-Competition restriction. If more than one penalised element of the same type was introduced, identify the last fitted element.
- Run the Race-grid algorithm. Use B2.5.4; do not simply count backwards from qualifying and stop.
- Separately check parc fermé. A permitted replacement and a pool penalty can coexist; an unauthorised change can create a pit-lane start.
How the FIA builds the Race grid
The FIA begins with a nominally empty grid. A driver's final position is not always qualifying position plus the headline penalty because collisions and unoccupied positions are resolved in a set sequence.
Penalised classified drivers up to 15
A classified driver with 15 or fewer cumulative unserved Race grid places imposed in the previous 12 months receives a temporary position: qualifying classification plus the unserved total. If drivers collide on a temporary position, the slower qualifier keeps it and the others are placed immediately ahead in qualifying order.
Fill with unpenalised drivers, then close gaps
Unpenalised classified drivers take the unoccupied positions in qualifying order. The penalised drivers from the first step are then moved up to fill remaining empty positions. This is why a ten-place penalty may not equal ten actual places lost when other drivers are also penalised.
Back group, then unclassified drivers
Classified drivers with more than 15 cumulative unserved Race grid places start behind all other classified drivers, ordered among themselves by qualifying classification. Stewards-permitted unclassified drivers then go behind all classified drivers, in the fallback order from B2.4.3(b).
The Championship order can become the baseline
If Qualifying cannot take place and the stewards accept that it cannot be held, Article B2.5.4 uses the Drivers' Championship classification instead of qualifying classification and treats all drivers as classified before applying the grid procedure. If neither prescribed method can be used, grid formation is at the stewards' sole discretion.
The timing of a withdrawal can leave or close a gap
The provisional Race grid is due at least two hours before the scheduled formation lap and the final grid one hour before it. If a car is withdrawn by the notification deadline—one and a quarter hours before the scheduled formation lap—the grid closes up. A car withdrawn or unable to start after that point leaves its grid position vacant.
When replacing a part does not create the normal grid penalty
The exceptions are classification-specific. They are not a general “reliability exemption” for any failed engine.
Ancillaries can move between sealed elements
Article B8.2.4 permits PU-ANC components to be transferred between a driver's sealed elements without penalty, using the sealing or identification method approved in the homologation dossier. The ancillary still has its own usage limit.
Specified supplied components
Under B8.2.5 the FIA may authorise or mandate replacement of an SSPUC component for safety, policing or reliability reasons. B8.2.6 also allows the FIA to increase the permitted number of specified components after the defined reliability consultation. That is an FIA decision, not a unilateral team exemption.
Some smaller parts are outside the penalty
Parts marked “EXC” in Appendix C4's sealed-perimeter column may be changed without the B8.2.8 penalty; if a seal must be broken, the work must be under FIA supervision. FIA-approved Minor Parts may also be changed without that penalty, but their change may not involve breaking a seal.
A damaged seal can make an element unusable
The FIA seals relevant elements before first use so significant parts cannot be rebuilt or replaced freely. Under B8.2.9, if an FIA seal is damaged or removed after first use, the affected parts may not be used again unless the seal was removed under FIA supervision. That is an eligibility consequence for the part; any grid penalty depends on what replacement is then used and the driver's remaining pool.
Weekend documents show the actual account
The technical delegate records and reports issued at a Competition identify the elements declared or used, while the stewards' decisions establish any sporting consequence in the individual case. A broadcast graphic is useful shorthand, but it does not replace the FIA's element classification, official usage record, grid document or decision.
Applying the FIA 2026 rules
These are hypotheticals, not FIA casebook rulings or descriptions of real Grands Prix.
A fifth ICE leaves the Pit Lane
Situation: the driver has already used all four ICE units available in 2026. The car leaves the Pit Lane in practice with ICE number five.
Ruling: ten Race grid places under B8.2.8. It is the first additional ICE, and the transponder departure makes it used even if the car stops before setting a lap.
First excess ICE plus first excess MGU-K
Situation: at one Competition, a driver first exceeds the four-ICE allowance and the three-MGU-K allowance.
Ruling: 20 cumulative Race grid places—ten for each type. As the total is more than 15, a classified driver joins the back-of-classified-grid group, ordered there by qualifying classification.
A sixth ICE later in the season
Situation: the driver already incurred the penalty for the fifth ICE and later leaves the Pit Lane with ICE number six.
Ruling: five Race grid places. This is a later additional element of the same type; a first excess energy store at the same event would separately add ten.
A permitted in-pool change after Qualifying
Situation: after Qualifying, the team requests and receives the Technical Delegate's approval to replace a failed ICE with a compliant same-design unit already in the driver's 2026 pool.
Ruling: no B8.2.8 grid penalty because the allowance is not exceeded, and no parc-fermé pit-lane consequence on the stated facts because the work is approved under B3.5.4. The decisive facts are pool status and authorisation, not the timing alone.
Two excess ICE units at one event
Situation: a driver first uses ICE number five, then ICE number six at the same Competition.
Ruling: the introductions produce 10 plus five Race grid places. Only the last fitted excess ICE may be reused at a later Competition without another penalty under the same-Competition sentence in B8.2.8.
A substitute driver arrives
Situation: a reserve replaces a race driver whose applicable pool already contains four used ICE units.
Ruling: the reserve does not receive four fresh ICE units. B8.2.7 deems the replacement to be the original driver for usage assessment, so first use of another ICE is the first excess ICE on that inherited record.
Claims that lose an important condition
- “Four engines means four complete power units.” The FIA accounts for ICE, TC, EXH, ES, PU-CE, MGU-K and each PU-ANC separately.
- “The fifth part is always ten places.” Only the first excess of that specific type is ten; later extras of that type are five.
- “A 20-place penalty means start exactly 20 places lower.” More than 15 moves a classified driver into a back group, after which B2.5.4 decides the actual order.
- “A new power-unit element always means a pit-lane start.” Pool overuse and parc-fermé compliance are separate tests.
- “A substitute resets the pool.” Article B8.2.7 expressly prevents that result.
- “A Sprint-weekend change means a Sprint grid penalty.” B8.2.8 specifies a penalty for the Race; a separate parc-fermé breach may affect the Sprint.
Continue with the connected procedures
Governing-body sources and effective version
- FIA — 2026 F1 Regulations, Section A: General Regulatory Provisions, Issue 03 (25 June 2026), Articles A1.2 and A9.1
- FIA — 2026 F1 Regulations, Section B: Sporting Regulations, Issue 08 (5 August 2026), Articles B2.4.3, B2.5.4, B3.5 and B8.2
- FIA — 2026 F1 Regulations, Section C: Technical Regulations, Issue 20 (5 August 2026), Appendix C4
- FIA — current 2026 Formula One World Championship regulations index
Checked on 26 August 2026 against the FIA's then-current published 2026 regulations. Section B Issue 08 controls the allowance, use trigger, penalties and Race-grid procedure; Section C Issue 20 controls the physical component classifications. FIA F1 Documents, Technical Delegate reports, event-specific Supplementary Regulations and stewards' decisions may supply additional detail for an individual Competition. This page does not apply these Formula 1 rules to Formula 2, Formula 3, Formula E or another championship, and a later FIA issue should be checked before using the figures after 2026.