MONZA, Italy — immediately after qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix, even some drivers had been not sure precisely the place they’d be starting Sunday’s race.
Over three hours after qualifying, 2020 Italian Grand Prix winner Pierre Gasly tweeted: “Can somebody inform me all by which place I start tomorrow’s race?”.
the sensation was shared throughout the paddock. the most very important supply of confusion was whether or not Max Verstappen, who licensed second and had a 5-place penalty, would start from fourth or seventh on the grid.
Verstappen and pink Bull felt — precisely as a consequence of it turned out — he would start seventh, nonetheless the provisional grids a quantity of teams confirmed the media had the reigning world champion starting in fourth.
whereas which will sound like dangerous maths on the floor, the thought went that making use of penalties inside the order they had been served to drivers would have meant his penalty was diminished, with a quantity of rivals immediately behind him additionally dropping down the order, thus liberating up positions for him to inherit.
The FIA’s provisional grid confirmed this was not the case.
Highlighting the quirk in method One’s guidelines was the very actuality Esteban Ocon additionally served a 5-place grid penalty however solely fell three positions inside the closing grid given the quantity of penalties being served behind him.
not like on the Belgian Grand Prix two weeks in the past, the place no driver started the place he accomplished qualifying attributable to a slew of comparable penalties, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will at the very least line up from first on the grid having taken pole place on benefit inside the session.
becoming a member of him on the entrance row of the grid is susceptible to be George Russell, who licensed in sixth place however was elevated by advantage of Verstappen, Carlos Sainz, Sergio Perez and Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton all serving penalties.
The reshuffled grid has arrange the prospect of an thrilling Italian Grand Prix.
McLaren pair Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo is susceptible to be hoping for a repeat efficiency so as to add to final 12 months’s, all by which Ricciardo led a memorable one-two finish and secured the crew’s first victory since 2012.
Gasly begins from fifth, forward of two-time Italian Grand Prix winner Fernando Alonso.
Verstappen is susceptible to be on an all-Dutch fourth row with debutant Nyck de Vries, who’s a late stand in at Williams for Alex Albon, who has appendicitis.
De Vries’ teammate Nicholas Latifi will start from tenth regardless of being eradicated from Q1, exhibiting simply how massive the record of penalties was.
The grid in full
1. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
2. George Russell (Mercedes)
three. Lando Norris (McLaren)
4. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)
5. Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri)
6. Fernando Alonso (Alpine)
7. Max Verstappen (pink Bull) *5-place grid penalty
eight. Nyck De Vries (Williams)
9. Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo)
10. Nicholas Latifi (Williams)
eleven. Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin)
12. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
thirteen. Sergio Perez (pink Bull) *10-place grid penalty
14. Esteban Ocon (Alpine) *5-place grid penalty
the subsequent three drivers all had a 15-place penalty, so their penalties had been handed out so as of how they licensed in relation to 1 one other. The quirk of the foundations meant Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher, who licensed nineteenth and twentieth, truly climbed up the grid three places as three completely different drivers had full-on “again of grid” penalties.
15. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) licensed twelfth, 15-place grid penalty
sixteen. Kevin Magnussen (Haas) licensed nineteenth, 15-place grid penalty
17. Mick Schumacher (Haas) licensed twentieth, 15-place grid penalty
The three rear slots of the grid had been solely ever going to be crammed by three drivers — Sainz, Hamilton and Yuki Tsunoda all obtained “again of grid” penalties after their teams made wholesale engine adjustments.
Their closing order in that cluster of three was set by their closing qualifying place.
18. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) *again of grid penalty
19. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) *again of grid penalty
20. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) *again of grid penalty
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