Find out how the starting grid for Sunday's Sao Paulo GP was altered following three post-qualifying penalties on Friday night for impeding, under the revised rules for backing up after exiting the pit lane; Race starts at 5pm with build-up from 3.30pm on Sky Sports F1
Sunday 5 November 2023 07:09, UK
George Russell, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly were all given two-place grid penalties for Sunday's Sao Paulo GP after falling foul foul of the new instruction regarding driving slowly exiting the pit lane in Friday qualifying.
The penalty dropped Mercedes' Russell, last year's Interlagos winner, from sixth to eighth on the grid while the Alpine team-mates were relegated further down the midfield order having already earlier dropped out during Q2.
The trio were all judged to have violated "the wording and the spirit" of the race director's new instructions for Brazil by not staying far enough left in the Sao Paulo pit lane exit road to allow other drivers behind them the chance to pass.
After the chaos of drivers blocking the pit-lane during qualifying last week in Mexico - when Russell was one of three drivers investigated by stewards but cleared owing to the fact a solution to the problem was not yet in place - FIA race director Niels Wittich stated in his event notes for Interlagos that while stopping in the fast lane of the pit lane was no longer permitted, drivers could still drive slowly in the pit exit road to create gaps to cars ahead so long as they kept far enough to the left so not to block the path of anyone else.
However, Russell - on Gasly - and then the two Alpine drivers in separate incidents were investigated by stewards after qualifying for not following those revised instructions.
They were all given two-place grid drops for Sunday's Grand Prix, which starts at 5pm live on Sky Sports F1.
The beneficiaries of Russell's penalty were McLaren's Lando Norris and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, who rise a respective place up the top 10 on the grid after each suffering disappointments in the rain-affected end to qualifying.
1) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
3) Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
4) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
5) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
6) Lando Norris, McLaren
7) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
8) George Russell, Mercedes
9) Sergio Perez, Red Bull
10) Oscar Piastri, McLaren
11) Nico Hulkenberg, Haas
12) Kevin Magnussen, Haas
13) Alex Albon, Williams
14) Esteban Ocon, Alpine
15) Pierre Gasly, Alpine
16) Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri
17) Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri
18) Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo
19) Logan Sargeant, Williams
20) Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo
Sunday November 5
F1 is in Brazil for the final leg of the Americas triple header and the last Sprint weekend of the 2023 season. Watch every session from the Sao Paulo Grand Prix live on Sky Sports F1, with Sunday's race at 5pm. Stream F1 on Sky Sports with NOW
