Turkish GP: What Is the Starting Grid After Hamilton & Sainz’s Penalties? Who Is on Pole?

Lewis Hamilton put together a stunning lap in the dying minutes of Q3 to secure his fourth pole position of the season at the Turkish GP.

However, he will not be holding onto this position for long, as the impending engine penalty would mean that the Briton will be starting Sunday’s race from a distant P11. This would consequently mean that his Mercedes F1 teammate, Valtteri Bottas, will be taking over the pole position instead.

And he isn’t the only driver who is set to start from such an unusual position, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, also there for company. Only in the Spaniard’s case, he will be starting from the back of the grid. And since both these drivers qualified within the top 15, their penalties would mean that the grid will witness quite a shuffle.

Apart from drivers qualifying between P12 and P14 (Esteban Ocon, George Russell, and Mick Schumacher), all other drivers will start from a position that is different from their qualifying positions.

So, let’s take a look at the starting grid for the 9th Turkish Grand Prix.

Read More: Bottas Breaks His Pole Drought in Turkey as Hamilton Set to Start at 11th for Sunday’s F1 Race

What the Turkish GP Starting grid looks like

1. Valtteri Bottas
2. Max Verstappen
3. Charles Leclerc
4. Pierre Gasly
5. Fernando Alonso
6. Sergio Perez
7. Lando Norris
8. Lance Stroll
9. Yuki Tsunoda
10. Sebastian Vettel
11. Lewis Hamilton (qualified P1)
12. Esteban Ocon
13. George Russell
14. Mick Schumacher
15. Daniel Ricciardo
16. Nicholas Latifi
17. Antonio Giovinazzi
18. Kimi Raikkonen
19. Nikita Mazepin
20. Carlos Sainz (qualified P15)

F1 drivers starting from unusual positions

Well, Hamilton is right at the top of this list. The Briton will find himself stuck amongst the mid-field pack in P11, and will rely on the race start to gain a few places.

Carlos Sainz faces the same fate; the Spaniard was quite disheartened about the engine penalty in Istanbul because Ferrari’s pace has looked quite strong throughout the weekend. The other Ferrari of Charles Leclerc was often teasing a possible pole position on Saturday but missed it by a couple of positions.

Apart from the penalty-bearing duo, there is Daniel Ricciardo. He set his final Q1 lap time much earlier than the others. Hence, with the track conditions evolving rapidly, his lap time did not stand a chance against over half of the grid.

Finally, there is Mick Schumacher, who pulled off his best-ever qualifying session in F1, thanks to his tires that worked like a charm in Q1 whilst the rest of the grid were struggling with tire temperatures.

But it is likely that Schumacher will tumble down the order on Sunday, especially with drivers like Sainz and Ricciardo behind him. Overall, an incredible Turkish GP in the offing for the fans, but who is grabbing the victory?

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