Button to take 50-place grid penalty

© XPB 

Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso will both receive grid penalties ahead of this weekend's Mexican Grand Prix.

Both drivers are being penalised for taking new power units, with Button finally receiving the updated Honda engine. Alonso first tested the update during Friday practice in Sochi - where he also took a grid penalty - before racing it in Austin last weekend, though a reliability issue cost him a chance of points.

Button receives the upgrade this weekend and will take two internal combustion engines [ICE] in order to have a big enough pool to choose from for the remaining three races. Button will also take two new MGU-H, MGU-K and turbochargers, with the combined penalty for the new components giving him a 50-place grid penalty.

Alonso's reliability issue saw him drop out of the top ten in the closing laps, and he will have a new ICE as a precautionary measure from Honda. The new engine results in a ten-place grid penalty for the Spaniard.

Button himself believes the timing of the penalties is sensible, with the 2009 world champion believing McLaren is set to struggle throughout the Mexican Grand Prix weekend.

Chris Medland's Mexican Grand Prix preview

Technical analysis: United States

Scene at the United States Grand Prix

Click here for the F1 drivers' girlfriends gallery

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter