Vettel takes new engine, gearbox ahead of Singapore GP - MotorSportsTalk

Ferrari has made use of Sebastian Vettel’s miserable qualifying session in Singapore by changing a number of components on his car ahead of Sunday’s Formula 1 race.

A rear anti-roll bar failure during Q1 left Vettel 22nd on the grid for the race at Marina Bay, prompting Ferrari to trigger a number of penalties by taking new parts.

Just as Mercedes made use of Lewis Hamilton’s last-place start in Belgium to hoard extra parts for the remainder of the season, Ferrari has taken a new internal combustion engine, turbocharger, MGU-H and gearbox on Vettel’s car ahead of the race in Singapore.

Teams are limited to using just five of these parts throughout the season, making additional parts of great use heading into the final rounds of 2016.

The FIA confirmed ahead of the race in Singapore that Ferrari had made the changes on Vettel’s car, leaving him with a 25-place grid penalty.

However, as he is due to start last anyway, the penalty will have no impact on Vettel’s starting position while freeing up additional components for the remainder of the season.

The FIA also confirmed that Haas had changed the gearbox on Romain Grosjean’s car following his qualifying crash, dropping him five places on the grid.

The Singapore Grand Prix is live on NBCSN and the NBC Sports app from 7am ET on Sunday.

Follow @LukeSmithF1

Coming off his best Supercross season to date, Enzo Lopes has re-signed with Muc-Off / ClubMX Yamaha and will race for the team in 2024. The deal is for Supercross only.

*Enzo Lopes won his heat race in Denver and finished fourth in the Main. – Feld Motor Sports*

Lopes debuted in the Supercross series in 2019 on a Suzuki and scored his first top-10 finishes in his last two starts of that season. Showing consistent improvement, he earned six top-10s in eight Main events the following year and finished fifth in the 250 East standings. In 2022, he scored his first top-five at Daytona and finished in the top five in points again.

“I am happy to be returning to ClubMX for another season,” Lopes said in a press release. “It is like family to me there and that is very important. Although I had many options, staying where I am makes the most sense for many reasons. The bikes are great, the people are great, the tracks are amazing, and I am surrounded by people that care about me. We all want to win and together we will get there.”

While he improved his season-best performance by only one position this year, it was nevertheless a breakout season. Lopes barely missed the podium three times in 2023 with fourth-place finishes at San Diego, Seattle, and Denver.

His strong performance him rumored to be speaking with factory teams.

“We could see the growth from Enzo every time he gets on the bike,” said team owner Brandon Haas. “We all knew it was just a matter of time before he would be noticed by everyone, and we are proud of him on many levels. He had some heat race wins and qualified fastest at three events this season. It would be hard not to be noticed going that fast. He had a big decision to make and we are glad he chose to stay with us at ClubMX.”

Lopes had three podium finishes in heat races this year, including a win preceding his fourth-place finish in Denver.

Lopes will join Jeremy Martin, Phil Nicoletti and Garrett Marchbanks, who announced a two-year extension with the team in January, at the ClubMX team.

Read more about SuperMotocross