zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Racing
/
168 Grid Penalties In One Formula One Race Makes My Head Spin
168 Grid Penalties In One Formula One Race Makes My Head Spin-December 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:11:39

A record 168 grid penalties were assigned in total for today’s Italian Grand Prix starting grid. One hundred and sixty eight. Seven of the twenty drivers were affected. Manor Marussia’s Will Stevens now starts 13th, for Pete’s sake. Is this season over yet? Here’s the shakedown of who got penalized for what.

Marcus Ericsson drops three grid places for impeding Nico Hülkenberg during qualifying, per . This is the only one that’s not ridiculous, but deserved. Dude just got in the way, and you can’t do that when someone’s on a flying lap. also reports that Ericsson received two points on his super license, bringing him to a total of seven points against him.

According to , the rest of the penalties are all because teams can’t get these stupid power units to work. Renault and Honda powered cars — surprise, surprise — are the ones affected.

Carlos Sainz gets a 35 place penalty for changing multiple power unit components.

Daniil Kvyat also gets a 35 place penalty for changing both a gearbox and power unit components.

Daniel Riccardo is the biggest loser of them all, receiving a fifty place grid penalty for changes to his power unit.

McLaren Honda’s pair of cars gets penalized, but actually benefits from the penalty overkill this time. Jenson Button had a five place penalty for a power unit component change and Fernando Alonso got a ten place penalty for a power unit component change, but both drivers move up one place to 15th and 16th, respectively.

Button is at least positive that lap one will be some fun for them. “Fernando and I gained so many places on lap one in Spa - and lost everything on lap two!” Button told .

Button continued, “A good start is important here - but the interesting action will be in Turn 1. It can get crazy there. We can’t keep anyone behind us as we are not quick enough in a straight line.”

Who doesn’t get any love at all at Monza? Max Verstappen, who not only had a 20 place grid penalty for power unit changes, but failed to qualify after his in qualifying. According to , Verstappen was already on his seventh and fifth power unit elements (of only four allowed!). He received an additional 10-place penalty because his crew broke the seals on his engine in the rush to send him out to qualify. That means F1 will count Verstappen as having used his eighth engine, anyway. Oops!

Additionally, Verstappen still has to serve a drive-through penalty for the unsafe release of his car without the engine cover fully attached. Fortunately, F1’s new leniency on penalizing teams for too many penalties means that Verstappen’s the only drive-through assigned ahead of the race.

Heeeeeeey Haas F1, this may be your opportunity to pick up a few soon-to-be ex-Toro Rosso crew members, but I’m not sure you’d want them.

If anyone got hosed without a penalty, though, it’s Nico Rosberg, who had to in qualifying after running into issues during practice. Rosberg now starts in fourth position, behind both Ferraris of Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel. points out that this is the lowest starting position ever for a Mercedes W06 car. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton starts out in front, and Tifosi everywhere are hoping he suffers whatever befell Rosberg’s car.

According to BBC F1 presenter , Mercedes admits that leaving the faster new-spec engine running new fuel in Lewis Hamilton’s cars is a bit of a risk reliability-wise. They didn’t have time to swap both engines, though, so only Nico’s running his older engine. Rosberg’s engine is six races old—an eternity for a Formula One power unit.

Could we see a Ferrari win their home grand prix, then? Given the number of times Monza has been won from pole, it’ll probably need gremlins to show up in that Mercedes power unit for that to happen. Yes. Actual, literal .

The full starting grid can be viewed . Is it 2016 yet? This is the wrong kind of record-breaking season.

Contact the author at .

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Racing
Get Ready To Spend All Your Money On Retro Formula 1 Merch
Get Ready To Spend All Your Money On Retro Formula 1 Merch
Fellow nerds, get ready to open your wallets, because I’ve found what may be the greatest store of all time. With designs from Formula 1 teams like , you’re sure to find something that fits your particular nostalgic niche. I’d like to introduce you to Racing Retro. I first...
Dec 25, 2025
Race Team Would Rather Create A Fake AI Woman Rather Than Hire A Real One
Race Team Would Rather Create A Fake AI Woman Rather Than Hire A Real One
In another unsurprising example of motorsport’s inhospitable mindset toward hiring competent women, the Racing team has announced a new partnership with Ava Rose, a literal , who will... engage with fans? Share knowledge about technology? “Navigate the cutting edge of innovation to create positive change” (whatever that means)? I...
Dec 25, 2025
Listen To In-Car Audio From Race Cars While You Work
Listen To In-Car Audio From Race Cars While You Work
If you follow racing in the U.S., you probably already know about the . Most of the episodes are too much of a distraction to put on as background noise while you work, but a couple of recent entries in his series have been working incredibly well for me....
Dec 25, 2025
Local Businesses Want Compensation After Allegedly Losing Money During Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix
Local Businesses Want Compensation After Allegedly Losing Money During Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix
If you listen to Formula 1 or local officials from Las Vegas and Clark County, you’d probably think November’s inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix was a success. Some sources estimated that the city of Las Vegas made over $1 billion in revenue from the event — but there were...
Dec 25, 2025
You've Probably Never Heard Of The Coolest Canadian Car Ever Built
You've Probably Never Heard Of The Coolest Canadian Car Ever Built
Name a car from the early 1960s built by a famed racing driver with curvy, lightweight aluminum bodywork, a big American engine, and a reputation for being unruly and fast as all hell. Your first thought was probably the famed Shelby Cobra, did you know there was a who...
Dec 25, 2025
After Delivering 8 Seasons At The Back Of The Grid, Haas F1 Team Dumps Guenther Steiner
After Delivering 8 Seasons At The Back Of The Grid, Haas F1 Team Dumps Guenther Steiner
The partially North Carolina-based squad has determined that after , it needs to mix things up a little. The team’s firebrand has been following an abysmal 2023 season which saw the team score just four points-paying finishes. The team’s , where scored a fourth-place finish, but that season too...
Dec 25, 2025
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved