F1 star gets strange penalty just hours before Miami Grand Prix sprint race
A Formula One driver got a five-place penalty after a strange incident during qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix sprint race.
After a five-week break because the Saudi Arabia and Bahrain Grands Prix were canceled, F1 is back racing at the Miami International Autodrome, near the Hard Rock Stadium.
Before Sunday’s race, all 22 drivers will take part in the second sprint race of the season, starting at 5:00 pm BST, with qualifying for the main race happening afterwards.
In qualifying to set the sprint race grid, McLaren’s Lando Norris took pole position with an impressive lap in SQ3, beating championship leader Kimi Antonelli. Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc came in just behind them.
But the biggest news wasn’t about the top drivers. Williams driver Alex Albon, who finished 14th in qualifying, got a weird five-place penalty.
At first, Albon thought he just barely missed out on making it into SQ3. But the FIA later found that he shouldn’t have even been in SQ2 because he went off the track limits during SQ1.
The officials didn’t catch this during the session, so he had already started SQ2 when they were told about the problem. Because of this, Albon was hit with a five-place penalty and will start the sprint race in 19th place instead of 14th.
The stewards explained: “During SQ1, Car 23 clearly exceeded track limits at Turn 6. This wasn’t reported until SQ2 had already started. Car 23’s lap time that broke track limits was good enough to move into SQ2. By the time we knew about the violation, Car 23 was already on track in SQ2. This unusual situation means we’re deleting the lap time from SQ1 and all lap times from SQ2 for Car 23, because he should not have been in SQ2.”
Here’s the top 22 starting grid for the sprint:
1 – Lando Norris, McLaren
2 – Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
3 – Oscar Piastri, McLaren
4 – Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
5 – Max Verstappen, Red Bull
6 – George Russell, Mercedes
7 – Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
8 – Franco Colapinto, Alpine
9 – Isack Hadjar, Red Bull
10 – Pierre Gasly, Alpine
11 – Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi
12 – Nico Hulkenberg, Audi
13 – Oliver Bearman, Haas
14 – Carlos Sainz, Williams
15 – Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls
16 – Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls
17 – Esteban Ocon, Haas
18 – Sergio Perez, Cadillac
19 – Alex Albon, Williams
20 – Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac
21 – Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
22 – Lance Stroll, Aston Martin