Brendon Hartley to start last in Austria after power unit changes
Brendon Hartley will start Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix from tꦓhe back of the grid after Honda made a tactical change of all his power unit components in order to stockpile parts for the remainder of the For𒈔mula 1 season.
Hartley qualified 19🐻th on Saturday at the Red Bull Ring, missing out on a Q2 berth by two-tenths of a second as he struggled to match Toro Rosso teammate Pierre Gasly for pace.
Brendon Hartley꧟ will start Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix from the back of the gri♊d after Honda made a tactical change of all his power unit components in order to stockpile parts for the remainder of the Formula 1 season.
Hartley qualified 19th on Saturday at the Red Bull Ring, missing out on a Q2 berth by t🍎wo-tenths of a second as he struggled to match Toro Rosso teammate Pierre Gasly for pace.
With Hartley's low qualifying position in mind, Honda confirmed on Sunday morning ahead of♐ the race it h🔥ad taken a complete new power unit on his car for the race, allowing the Japanese manufacturer to tactically gain additional parts to ease some of the pressure at forthcoming races.
"We🌸 are changing all the PU components on Brendon’s car prior to the race," Honda confirmed on Twitter.
"Thi🐎s is for tactical reasons, given that he qualified on the back row. There were no technical issues with the PU on Saturdꦺay!"
— Honda Racing F1 (@HondaRacingF1)Hartley will drop from 19th to 20th on the fꦅinal starting grid as a result of the changes, promoting Sauber's M🌠arcus Ericsson one position.
