2023-11-03 23:03:54
(Motorsport-Total.com) – It wasn’t until 7:35 p.m. local time in Sao Paulo, three and a half hours following the end of Q3, that the result of qualifying for Sunday’s race was finally determined. With a changed starting grid, because George Russell (6th/Mercedes), Esteban Ocon (12th/Alpine) and Pierre Gasly (13th/Alpine) each received a move back two starting positions.
Three drivers were punished for misconduct at the pit exit
The basis for this decision by the race stewards is a new rule that was introduced before the race weekend in Brazil and laid down in the so-called event notes by race director Niels Wittich.
It states that drivers must not “drive unnecessarily slowly” in qualifying on Friday and Saturday (which has already been the case before), and this includes “stopping a car in the fast lane of the pit lane” (new). Such incidents of stopping at the pit exit, for example involving Max Verstappen, had recently caused discussions.
A rule that commissioners believe Russell, Ocon and Gasly broke. All three reasons for the judgment say in unison that the driver in question “drove slowly to create a gap for a free lap, but did not stay completely to the left. As a result, the following vehicles were unable to overtake, as the race management had planned.”
The grid penalties for all three drivers relate to the “next race in which the driver takes part,” according to the verdicts. This doesn’t mean the F1 sprint on Saturday, but the Grand Prix of Sao Paulo on Sunday. For the F1 sprint, the three drivers are allowed to keep the starting positions that they secured in the sprint shootout on Saturday morning.
As a result of the postponements, Lando Norris (McLaren) moves up from seventh to sixth place. He will be on the starting grid on Sunday next to Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) in row 3. Kevin Magnussen (Haas) is also a winner, moving up from 14th to 12th and now setting off next to his teammate Nico Hülkenberg (11th). may.
However, there was no penalty for Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), who was also the subject of an FIA investigation following his sensational third place. Stroll did not stick to the prescribed maximum time of 1:14 minutes during qualifying.
The Canadian was not penalized because, firstly, he was careful not to hinder other drivers on their fast laps and therefore drove slowly; and secondly because he drove into the pits at the end of the lap examined, which meant that his speed at the end of the measuring range in the third sector was even lower than it would have been on a flying lap.
“The commissioners therefore find that the driver in question did not drive ‘unnecessarily slowly’ and that the reason for exceeding the maximum time was obvious that he took appropriate measures,” says the Stroll ruling. Conclusion: “No further action” – i.e. no punishment.
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#Grid #penalties #Russell #Ocon #Gasly
