Accumulation of sanctions for Verstappen, Hamilton, Leclerc, Russell and Pérez in Brazil that add excitement to the race
There was a festival of penalties in the Brazilian F1 GPwhich will cause major changes to the starting grid and clearly affect the fight for victory, and among the four best teams, there were up to three with a driver sanctioned for changing engine elements. Among them, Max Verstappenone of the clear favorites to win.
The FIA officially announced this Friday the sanctions against Max Verstappen, George Russell, the two Ferraris (Hamilton and Leclerc) and George Russell, in addition to ‘Checo’ Pérez.
Max Verstappen suffered an engine problem on Friday and Red Bull had to change his power unit.a, so whatever you do in classification, The flying Dutchman will have to start from the back of the grid. Had to change engine, turbo, exhaust and MGU-K, apart from some auxiliaries.
That is reminiscent of what he already had to do in 2024, when coming out 17th He came back in the rain to win, thus signing one of the best works that Max can remember.
The chances of rain for Sunday’s race are very high, more than 90% from morning to afternoon, that must be grasped Maxjust like the rest of the top teams’ sanctioned players.
George Russell received a penalty for changing the engine by 5 positions, and what no one expected is that the two Ferrari change the combustion chamber, something that is synonymous with a 10-position sanction for Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.
However, in Free Practice 3, Hamilton’s new engine broke and that caused another change that will force him to start from the back of the grid.
“Following FP3, the power unit of car 44 (Hamilton) has been removed for additional checks. After completing our analysis, We have decided to replace the entire power unit. “Lewis will participate in qualifying, but will have to start tomorrow from the last position on the grid.”the Ferrari team communicated to this newspaper.
Lewis has already made great comebacks at Interlagos, winning from 10th in 2021 and being 5th after starting 20th in the sprint the previous day, in just 24 laps.
Checo Pérez was also penalized 30 positions on the grid, so he will also start from the back, although in the case of the Mexican, this penalty does not change much in the film at the wheel of a cadillac uncompetitive that usually occupies the last places.
This way, Verstappen, Hamilton and Pérez will start from the back and Leclerc has a 10-position penalty and Russell, 5.
After FP3, the power unit of car 44 (Hamilton) has been removed for additional checks. After completing our analysis, we have decided to replace the entire power unit. Lewis will participate in qualifying, but will have to start tomorrow from the last position on the grid
Rain may appear in classification
In this way, of the teams above, only the new world champion, Kimi Antonelli, the two McLarens, who arrive at this track with evolutions, and Hadjar will not have a grid penalty. Therefore, after what we saw in free practice, Kimi Antonelli and Lando Norris will be the favorites to take the front row, and Kimi, with the pole. Although rain could also appear in classification and generate greater uncertainty.
