Alpine has been forced to change the power unit on Jack Doohan's car after the Australian ground to a halt during first practice for the Chinese Grand Prix. With 14 minutes remaining of the hour-long outing at the Shanghai International Circuit, Doohan was forced to pull off track. Over the radio, he bemoaned a lack of power, notably in his power steering. An initially suspected hydraulics issue proved to be a problem with the MGU-K, resulting in a power unit swap ahead of the sprint shootout. The team fitted a new internal combustion engine, turbocharger, MGU-H, MGU-K, and exhaust. The change proved beneficial as Doohan out-qualified experienced team-mate Pierre Gasly by 0.065s, although the duo were knocked out in SQ1 and will line up in 16th and 17th on the grid for the one-third distance race on Saturday. Doohan becomes the third driver to undergo a PU change this season following Racing Bulls' Yuki Tsunoda and Ollie Bearman at Haas. Bearman did so following a crash in first practice for last weekend's Australian Grand Prix, whilst Tsunoda, like Doohan, had a new PU for the sprint shootout. Racing Bulls said it did so to 'check a few things'. That system will now go back into the pool. This year, four of each of the primary elements - ICE, TC, MGU-H, and MGU-K - can be used before grid penalties are applied, compared to three last season. It remains the case, though, that only two control electronics and energy stores can be used. A third draws a grid penalty.
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