United States GP: Lindblad, Colapinto and Bortoleto take grid penalties
NXTbets Pro | Published On: October 23, 2026
Lindblad penalty
Arvid Lindblad opens the list of penalties for the United States Grand Prix in Austin, where at least three drivers will lose grid spots after going over power-unit component limits. Lindblad will take a five-place grid penalty after taking a sixth internal combustion engine. That is the latest hit in a run of component changes that has already forced him to the back of the field once this season. Racing Bulls fitted his fifth internal combustion engine in Malaysia, and that change sent him off from the rear there. The new penalty puts him back into the same kind of uphill fight before the race even begins.
Lindblad’s case matters because it shows how quickly the component count can catch up with a driver. One extra internal combustion engine is enough to trigger a penalty, and once that limit is crossed, the starting order takes the blow before the first lap. His five-place drop is smaller than the penalties handed to the other two drivers named in the same batch, but it still changes the shape of his race. A driver who starts deeper in the field has less room to control the opening phase and more traffic to work through. That is the cost of running into the annual allocation rules. The penalty is also another sign that Austin is arriving with the grid already under pressure from component management, not just qualifying pace.
Colapinto and Bortoleto
Franco Colapinto will drop 10 grid places after taking a fourth control electronics unit. That puts him in the middle of the penalty picture, with a hit larger than Lindblad’s but smaller than Gabriel Bortoleto’s. Colapinto’s change is clean and direct. One component crosses the line, and the penalty follows. For a driver trying to line up for the United States Grand Prix with a clear shot at the opening lap, a 10-place loss can quickly turn a race into a recovery drive. It changes where he starts, who he must pass and how much risk he has to take early.
Bortoleto faces the steepest penalty of the group. He will receive a 20-place grid drop after changing multiple power-unit components, including his fourth energy store and fourth control electronics unit. He also has a new internal combustion engine, turbocharger, exhaust set and power unit ancillary unit, and those parts were within his annual allowance. The result is a mixed ledger, with some changes counted inside the limit and others pushing him into a major penalty. The size of the drop reflects the scale of the overage. It puts Bortoleto well back in the field before the race starts and gives him the biggest climb of the three drivers named in the Austin penalties. Together, his case and Colapinto’s show how different component changes can carry very different starting-position costs even in the same event.
Austin grid impact
The wider picture at Austin is even sharper. Half the grid had already exceeded at least one engine-component limit earlier in the season, and that number has now risen to 12 of the 22 drivers at the United States Grand Prix. That means more than half the field arrives with some form of component overage already on the books. The result is a grid that is being shaped as much by power-unit usage as by speed on track. The penalties are spread across different parts of the power unit, with Lindblad taking a sixth internal combustion engine, Colapinto losing ground for a fourth control electronics unit and Bortoleto dealing with a larger mix of component changes.
The sequence tells a clear story about how the season has unfolded. Teams have been managing allocations, and the pressure has built to the point where Austin now features a field with multiple drivers taking penalties before the cars even roll out. That changes the strategic picture for everyone around them. Drivers who avoid penalties gain cleaner starting positions, while those who do not must plan for traffic, recovery moves and the added challenge of climbing through the order. With 12 of the 22 drivers already over at least one engine-component limit, the United States Grand Prix begins with the starting grid partly settled by the rule book.
