Grid Penalty – Syndication Server

Sainz ‘in disbelief’ at 10-place grid penalty for exceeding PU components

Carlos Sainz says he is “in disbelief” at the10-place grid penalty he was given for the Las Vegas Grand Prix as a result of exceeding power unit components – a situation caused by his car hitting a drain cover in FP1. The Ferrari driver struck the …

Carlos Sainz says he is “in disbelief” at the10-place grid penalty he was given for the Las Vegas Grand Prix as a result of exceeding power unit components — a situation caused by his car hitting a drain cover in FP1.

The Ferrari driver struck the loose drain at 200mph and suffered significant damage to the chassis as well as power unit components as the engine cut off as a result. After changing the chassis, Ferrari also had to change the internal combustion engine (ICE), energy store (ES) and control electronics (CE), with the energy store requiring a third of that component.

Drivers are limited to two energy stores per season so Ferrari lobbied the stewards for a reprieve due to the cause of the damage to it, but the request was refused based on the regulations.

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“Having heard from (Ferrari), the director of the FIA Single Seater Department, having viewed video evidence and examined the team’s declaration sheet, the stewards determine that, notwithstanding the fact that the damage was caused by highly unusual external circumstances, Article 2.1 of the Formula 1 Sporting Regulations obliges all officials, including the stewards, to apply the regulations as they are written.

“Accordingly, the mandatory penalty specified under Article 28.3 of the Sporting Regulations must be applied.

“The stewards note that if they had the authority to grant a derogation in what they consider in this case to be mitigating, unusual and unfortunate circumstances, they would have done so, however the regulations do not allow such action.”

As a result, Sainz was given a grid drop of 10 positions for Saturday night’s grand prix. The Spaniard was at least able to compete in FP2 due to the delays that were encountered to allow for track repairs, posting second-fastest time to teammate Charles Leclerc, but that was scant consolation for him when told of the penalty.

“You can clearly see this weekend we are relatively competitive as I think that the track layout is suiting us a bit more compared to the last few, and we seem to be switching on the tires well over one lap,” Sainz said. “So I was quite excited and optimistic.

“Unfortunately, as the session finished the team communicated to me that I was taking a 10-place grid penalty, for something that I have no fault and the team has no fault. This has obviously completely changed my mindset and my opinion on how the weekend is going to go from now on. You can obviously imagine how disappointed and in disbelief with the situation I am, and you will not see me very happy this weekend.

“Yes, there will be opportunities (to overtake). But as I said, right now I’m just too disappointed with the outcome and I don’t want to talk too much about the future because what happened today for me is a very clear example of how this sport can be improved in so many ways. FIA, teams, rules that could clearly be applied as force majeure for me not to take a penalty, but somehow people always (find) some ways to make the situation worse for an individual and I think in this case it’s my turn to pay the price.”

Dixon takes grid penalty at Laguna

Scott Dixon will take a six-place grid penalty for today’s NTT IndyCar Series season finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca for an unapproved engine change. Dixon, who qualified the No.9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda fifth yesterday, becomes the …

Scott Dixon will take a six-place grid penalty for today’s NTT IndyCar Series season finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca for an unapproved engine change.

Dixon, who qualified the No.9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda fifth yesterday, becomes the fourth driver to take on a new engine in exchange for a hit to his grid position, joining Augustin Canapino (Juncos Hollinger Chevrolet), Santino Ferrucci (A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet) and Juri Vips (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda).

As with the others, Dixon’s penalty is in line with Rule 16.2.3.2, which states:

“A fifth (5th) Engine is eligible to earn Engine Manufacturer points if a Full Season Entrant has completed the Full Season Entrant Engine Mileage with its first four (4) Engines. Otherwise, a fifth (5th) or more Engine does not earn Engine Manufacturer points and will be considered an Unapproved Engine change-out.

“According to Rule 16.6.1.2, the penalty is a six-position starting grid penalty on road and street course events and nine positions at oval events and will be served at the series’ next event, which is the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey Sunday, Sept. 10 in Monterey, California.”

Laguna grid penalty for Vips

IndyCar has announced a six-position starting grid penalty for the No. 30 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda entry, driven by rookie Juri Vips, for an unapproved engine change following Friday practice at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. The team …

The team was in violation of Rule 16.2.3.2: “A fifth (5th) Engine is eligible to earn Engine Manufacturer points if a Full Season Entrant has completed the Full Season Entrant Engine Mileage with its first four (4) Engines. Otherwise, a fifth (5th) or more Engine does not earn Engine Manufacturer points and will be considered an Unapproved Engine change-out.”

The penalty for the RLL entry is the second of the weekend thus far, following Friday’s announcement of a similar penalty for the Juncos Hollinger No. 78 Chevrolet driven by Augustin Canapino.

Grid penalty at Laguna for Canapino

The final race of Agustin Canapino’s rookie NTT IndyCar Series season will come with some extra distance required to reach the front of the grid. The Juncos Hollinger Racing driver is the latest to receive a six-position grid penalty for an …

The final race of Agustin Canapino’s rookie NTT IndyCar Series season will come with some extra distance required to reach the front of the grid.

The Juncos Hollinger Racing driver is the latest to receive a six-position grid penalty for an unapproved engine change. Despite the setback, the Argentinian will have a fresh 2.2-liter twin-turbo V6 Chevrolet engine to help in his quest to earn Rookie of the Year honors.

According to IndyCar’s rulebook, “Rule 16.2.3.2 A fifth (5th) Engine is eligible to earn Engine Manufacturer points if a Full Season Entrant has completed the Full Season Entrant Engine Mileage with its first four (4) Engines. Otherwise, a fifth (5th) or more Engine does not earn Engine Manufacturer points and will be considered an Unapproved Engine change-out.”

Palou joins grid penalty pack at WWTR

IndyCar has announced another nine-position starting grid penalty for today’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway, this one for the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda of championship leader Alex Palou, for an unapproved …

The team was in violation of:

Rule 16.2.3.2 A fifth (5th) Engine is eligible to earn Engine Manufacturer points if a Full Season Entrant has completed the Full Season Entrant Engine Mileage with its first four (4) Engines. Otherwise, a fifth (5th) or more Engine does not earn Engine Manufacturer points and will be considered an Unapproved Engine change-out.

According to Rule 16.6.1.2, the penalty is a six-position starting grid penalty on road and street course events and nine positions at oval events.

Palou’s No. 10 joins Scott McLaughlin’s No. 3 Team Penske Chevy, Scott Dixon’s No. 9 and Takuma Sato’s No. 11 Chip Ganassi Racing Hondas, Kyle Kirkwood’s No. 27 Andretti Autosport Honda and No. Agustin Canapino’s No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevy who will take grid penalties for this race.

Five teams hit with engine change grid penalties for WWTR

Five entries for this weekend’s NTT IndyCar Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway will receive nine-spot grid penalties for making unapproved engine changes. Scott McLaughlin’s No. 3 Team Penske Chevy, Scott Dixon’s No. 9 and Takuma Sato’s …

Five entries for this weekend’s NTT IndyCar Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway will receive nine-spot grid penalties for making unapproved engine changes.

Scott McLaughlin’s No. 3 Team Penske Chevy, Scott Dixon’s No. 9 and Takuma Sato’s No. 11 Chip Ganassi Racing Hondas, Kyle Kirkwood’s No. 27 Andretti Autosport Honda and No. Agustin Canapino’s No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevy all installed their fifth engines of the season, and per IndyCar’s rules, only the four engines included in each annual lease are permitted for use without consequence.

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Rule 16.2.3.2 reads, “A fifth Engine is eligible to earn Engine Manufacturer points if a Full Season Entrant has completed the Full Season Entrant Engine Mileage with its first four Engines. Otherwise, a fifth or more Engine does not earn Engine Manufacturer points and will be considered an Unapproved Engine change-out.”

Newgarden gets Indy GP grid penalty

It’s been a challenging Gallagher Grand Prix weekend for Josef Newgarden thus far, and got even tougher Saturday morning with the announcement by IndyCar that the Team Penske driver’s No. 2 Chevrolet has been assessed a six-place grid penalty for an …

Newgarden, who had qualified a disappointing 19th on Friday, will now start 25th in the 27-car field for today’s race after his and the three previously announced grid penalties for similarly unapproved engine changes are applied.

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Officially, the team was in violation of Rule 16.2.3.2 which states that a fifth engine is eligible to earn engine manufacturer points if a full season entrant has completed the full season entrant engine mileage with its first four engines. Otherwise, a fifth or more engine does not earn engine manufacturer points and will be considered an unapproved engine change-out.

REVISED STARTING LINEUP

IndyCar announces three grid penalties for Indy road race

IndyCar announced a six-position starting grid penalty for three series entries – the No. 06 Meyer Shank Racing Honda driven by Helio Castroneves, the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Honda of David Malukas and the No. 30 Rahal Letterman Lanigan …

IndyCar announced a six-position starting grid penalty for three series entries — the No. 06 Meyer Shank Racing Honda driven by Helio Castroneves, the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Honda of David Malukas and the No. 30 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda driven by Jack Harvey — for unapproved engine changes following last week’s race at Nashville.

The named teams were in violation of Rule 16.2.3.2: “A fifth Engine is eligible to earn Engine Manufacturer points if a Full Season Entrant has completed the Full Season Entrant Engine Mileage with its first four (4) Engines. Otherwise, a fifth (5th) or more Engine does not earn Engine Manufacturer points and will be considered an Unapproved Engine change-out.”

The specified penalty for violation of this rule is a six-position starting grid penalty on road and street course events and nine positions at oval events and will be served at the series’ next event, which is Saturday’s Gallagher Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

Verstappen shrugs off P6 start after grid penalty

Max Verstappen is confident Red Bull has made the right decision to take a grid penalty at the Belgian Grand Prix despite the threat of rain at Spa-Francorchamps. Red Bull has exceeded Verstappen’s permitted number of gearbox components for this …

Max Verstappen is confident Red Bull has made the right decision to take a grid penalty at the Belgian Grand Prix despite the threat of rain at Spa-Francorchamps.

Red Bull has exceeded Verstappen’s permitted number of gearbox components for this season in Belgium, leading to a five-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race. After qualifying comfortably fastest but starting from sixth, Verstappen says a reducing likelihood of rain for the race limits the risk of starting out of position.

“I think it’s still the best place to do it,” Verstappen said. “I think Sunday looks more and more dry, that’s why I guess we still went for it.

“I mean, last year we started 14th, and this year I think the car is better. So I’m still targeting to win the race for sure.”

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Verstappen only just made it through to Q3 in 10th place before setting the fastest time by over 0.8s, and he feels it shows how timing and the conditions can play a role in such a margin.

“I crossed the line, and it’s quite hectic out there. It’s still only one dry line, in some places you’re not even doing the full dry line. It felt all right, but honestly, I didn’t know where I was until I looked on the screens.

“But Q3, that final lap I think was very good. I just risked a bit more compared to all the other laps, leaving a little bit of margin which almost knocked me out in Q2. It was tough out there today to get everything right.

“I do know that we have a very good car, but I think it’s more just having a bit more luck with the line or the grip. If it would have been a full dry qualifying, I think the gap wouldn’t have been like this.”

The close shave at the end of Q2 saw Verstappen complaining to his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase about “s**t execution,” resulting in Lambiase hitting back with sarcasm. After Verstappen apologized at the end of the session, he says such moments never have a long-lasted impact.

“I mean that happens sometimes, mostly that’s almost all blocked off! I think we both can be quite vocal or emotional but we always sort it afterwards so it’s all good.”

Verstappen’s penalty means Charles Leclerc starts on pole position for the first time at Spa since his maiden Formula 1 victory in 2019, but the Ferrari driver is not expecting a repeat result.

“Not confident!” Leclerc said of his victory chances. “Especially with the two Red Bull guys right behind. I think they’ve got a much better race car than we have. I mean, it’s great to be starting first, and I think it gives us a great chance to have a great result. But to say that we’ll target the win, I think this would be a bit too optimistic.

“If there’s an opportunity for whatever reason, as always, I’ll try and get it. But I believe it’s going to be difficult to keep those guys behind.”

Leclerc on Belgian GP pole after Verstappen penalty

Max Verstappen dominated qualifying on a drying track for the Belgian Grand Prix but will cede pole position to Charles Leclerc thanks to a gearbox penalty. Despite a Q2 scare that saw him barely scrape through to the pole shootout in 10th, …

Max Verstappen dominated qualifying on a drying track for the Belgian Grand Prix but will cede pole position to Charles Leclerc thanks to a gearbox penalty.

Despite a Q2 scare that saw him barely scrape through to the pole shootout in 10th, Verstappen mastered the slicks-on-damp conditions of Q3 to take top spot by an imperious 0.82s. But the Dutchman must serve a five-place grid penalty for unsealing his fifth set of gearbox components, one more than allowed for the season, which will drop him to sixth on the grid and promote Leclerc to pole on Sunday.

“Last year I had more penalties and we could still with the race,” Verstappen said, recalling his drive from 13th to victory. “That’s still the target on Sunday.”

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Verstappen’s Sunday hopes were boosted by a generally strong feeling in the car on his way to the fastest time.

“It was all about just feeling confident and risking everything in that final run to get more lap time,” he said. “We know that the car is quick, and even in these tricky conditions today, luckily we could show that again.”

Leclerc said he was pleased with his performance despite the margin, but he stopped short of making any predictions for the race.

“Not a bad qualifying for us,” he said. “Especially in those conditions it’s always tricky to put everything together. I’ve put a lot of work into those conditions because I wasn’t so comfortable a few race ago, and it’s paid off.

“We have a great starting position for Sunday, and let’s see how it goes.”

Sergio Perez was 0.877s slower than his session-topping teammate and will be promoted to the front row alongside Leclerc.

“It was a very tricky qualifying out there,” he said. “But it’s a good result. It’s a bit of a shame I didn’t get Charles there, but I think in these conditions he was good.”

Lewis Hamilton, Carlos Sainz and Oscar Piastri will move up to third, fourth and fifth respectively, dropping Verstappen into sixth ahead of Lando Norris.

Norris was well covered by teammate Piastri after the Briton slid off the road in still-wet conditions in Q3, where a trip through the stones caused some suspected damage to his front wing and floor. George Russell was similarly bested by teammate Hamilton, albeit by a more significant 0.756s.

Aston Martin teammates Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll completed the top five, Alonso 1.6s off the pace and Stroll a further full second adrift.

Yuki Tsunoda was knocked out of the wet-dry Q2 in 11th ahead of Pierre Gasly and Kevin Magnussen.

Valtteri Bottas was among the first drivers to spy the opportunity to switch from intermediates to slicks, but it wasn’t enough to save him from 14th on the grid.

Esteban Ocon ended Q2 in his garage with a broken front wing after sliding off the track, through the stones and into the wall at Turn 9 without enough time to rejoin the track following repairs.

Alex Albon will start 16th after a fully wet Q1 that required use of the intermediate tire, beating Zhou Guanyu and American rookie Logan Sargeant, who joined the session late following a precautionary gearbox change after crashing out of FP1.

Daniel Ricciardo will start the grand prix 19th after having his fastest lap deleted for cutting the apex over the top of Raidillon. The Australian’s time had been good enough to put him 10th in the session, directly behind teammate Tsunoda.

Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg failed to set a time thanks to a hydraulics issue that delayed his exit from the pit lane until it was too late to complete an out-lap.