F1 News
SIX drivers with grid penalties! How does the grid line up for the Austrian GP?
Nicolás Quarles van Ufford
With six different drivers having received grid penalties before or during qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday, a lot of shuffling has been done on the grid! We've figured out the puzzle, so this is how the grid lines up in Spielberg!
*UPDATE*: Hamilton moves back to P4, not P5, because Magnussen's penalty (from P5 to P10) was awarded first and Norris (P6 originally) only profits from that.
Charles Leclerc took a dominant pole position at the Red Bull Ring, with the 21-year-old Monegasque claiming the second pole of his young career. Lewis Hamilton originally qualified in second right behind him, but the Brit has now been dropped back two places as he impeded Kimi Raikkonen during Q1.
More drama went down during qualifying, as Ferrari star Sebastian Vettel saw his engine break down between Q2 and Q3, meaning he couldn't run in the final shoot-out. He originally qualified in P10 as he didn't run, but moves up to P9 with Kevin Magnussen's five-place grid penalty taking him from fifth to tenth.
One more penalty got dished out during qualifying itself, although it didn't have massive implications. George Russell, who was on an out lap at the end of Q1, impeded Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat during the Russian's flying lap. A three-place penalty for Russell sees him dropping from P15 to P18.
The other grid penalties were all given for swapping components heading into the weekend. Magnussen, as previously mentioned, put in a massive lap to qualify fifth but drops to P10 because he swapped his gearbox. Both Carlos Sainz and Alexander Albon have swapped power units, dropping them to the back, and Nico Hülkenberg has switched his engine, which has a five-place penalty as punishment. However, he starts from P15 because of other penalties.
Are you dizzy from all these penalties? No worries! Here is how the entire grid, including the penalties, will line up tomorrow (barring other penalties being handed out)!
Provisional starting grid for the 2019 Austrian Grand Prix
| 1. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) | |
| 2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) | |
| 3. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) | |
| 4. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)* | |
| 5. Lando Norris (McLaren) | |
| 6. Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo Racing) | |
| 7. Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo Racing) | |
| 8. Pierre Gasly (Red Bull Racing) | |
| 9. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) | |
| 10. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)** | |
| 11. Romain Grosjean (Haas) | |
| 12. Daniel Ricciardo (Renault) | |
| 13. Sergio Pérez (Racing Point) | |
| 14. Lance Stroll (Racing Point) | |
| 15. Nico Hülkenberg (Renault)*** | |
| 16. Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso) | |
| 17. Robert Kubica (Williams) | |
| 18. George Russell (Williams)**** | |
| 19. Carlos Sainz Jr. (McLaren)***** | |
| 20. Alexander Albon (Toro Rosso)****** |
* Lewis Hamilton drops from P2 to P5 because of a three-place grid penalty for impeding Kimi Raikkonen in Q1, but moves up to P4 because of Magnussen's penalty.
** Kevin Magnussen drops from P5 to P10 because of a new gearbox.
*** Nico Hülkenberg drops from P12 to P15 because of a new engine
**** George Russell drops from P15 to P18 because of a three-place grid penalty for impeding Daniil Kvyat in Q1.
***** Carlos Sainz Jr. drops from P15 to P19 because of a new power unit.
****** Alexander Albon drops from P13 to P20 because of a new power unit.
