At the third round of the season and the start of Formula 1’s new technical era, reliability and management of 2026 power unit components are already emerging as a key topic.
Teams must plan component usage across the entire championship while managing the expected reliability challenges of the brand-new power units, which now no longer feature the MGU-H, while the electrical power component has roughly doubled.
Component management is governed by the sporting regulations under Article B8.2 – Power Unit Limitations & Usage, which sets maximum allowed quantities, counting methods, and penalties for exceeding limits. During the season, each driver is allowed:
- 3 internal combustion engines (ICE)
- 3 turbochargers (TC)
- 3 exhaust systems (EXH)
- 2 energy stores (ES)
- 2 power unit control electronics (PU-CE)
- 2 MGU-K
- 5 ancillary power unit components (PU-ANC)
Exceeding these limits results in grid penalties: the first additional unit in a given category incurs a 10-place penalty, while subsequent units cost 5 places each. Penalties are cumulative and applied at the first event the new component is used. If multiple extra elements of the same category are introduced in the same weekend, only the last installed can be reused in later events without further penalties. Certain parts classified as EXC or minor parts can be replaced without penalty, provided the operation is supervised by the FIA and uses homologated components.
This year also features specific exemptions: first-year power unit manufacturers (Ford and Audi) can use one additional unit per category, and the FIA can increase limits if widespread reliability issues arise.
Updated 2026 component usage table
Data updated based on the FIA’s latest release on new PU elements introduced for the 2026 Japanese GP.
| No. | Team | Driver | ICE | TC | EX | MGU-K | ES | PU-CE | PU-ANC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 81 | McLaren Mercedes | Oscar Piastri | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 01 | McLaren Mercedes | Lando Norris | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 63 | Mercedes | George Russell | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 12 | Mercedes | Kimi Antonelli | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 03 | Red Bull Ford RBPT * | Max Verstappen | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 06 | Red Bull Ford RBPT * | Isack Hadjar | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| 16 | Ferrari | Charles Leclerc | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 44 | Ferrari | Lewis Hamilton | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 23 | Williams Mercedes | Alexander Albon | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 55 | Williams Mercedes | Carlos Sainz | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 41 | RBR Ford RBPT * | Arvid Lindblad | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 30 | RBR Ford RBPT * | Liam Lawson | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 18 | Aston Martin Honda | Lance Stroll | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| 14 | Aston Martin Honda | Fernando Alonso | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| 31 | Haas Ferrari | Esteban Ocon | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 87 | Haas Ferrari | Olivier Bearman | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 05 | Audi * | Nico Hulkenberg | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 27 | Audi * | Gabriel Bortoleto | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 10 | Alpine Mercedes | Pierre Gasly | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 07 | Alpine Mercedes | Franco Colapinto | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 77 | Cadillac Ferrari | Valtteri Bottas | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 11 | Cadillac Ferrari | Sergio Perez | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
* New manufacturer with extra unit allowance (1 additional unit per category)
Current situation
The latest FIA update for the 2026 Japanese GP shows some drivers introducing key new power unit components.
The main changes affect Lando Norris and Lance Stroll, who have installed a new energy store and control electronics, bringing them to two units in these critical hybrid categories.
Red Bull has upgraded Max Verstappen with a new MGU-K and ancillary components. With Ford now part of Red Bull, they are considered a “new manufacturer” and are allowed one additional component per category compared to existing manufacturers.
Fernando Alonso now has three ancillary components, while Liam Lawson introduces his second exhaust, keeping within a normal rotation without regulatory penalties.
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