Qualifying for the Russian Grand Prix 2019 concluded on Saturday, with Charles Leclerc grabbing pole position. Alongside him will be Lewis Hamilton on the front row, with Sebastian Vettel in 3rd.
However, not everyone will be starting where they qualified, as there are penalties to consider. First and foremost, Valtteri Bottas is promoted to 4th place after Max Verstappen picked up a 5-place grid penalty. He is not the only driver, however, teammate Alex Albon and Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly also have penalties.
Even Daniil Kvyat has picked up a penalty, albeit for different reasons. In addition to that, Robert Kubica is the only other driver with a penalty.
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So, the final grid lines up as follows:
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
- Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
- Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)
- Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)
- Carlos Sainz (McLaren)
- Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
- Lando Norris (McLaren)
- Romain Grosjean (Haas)
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- Daniel Ricciardo (Renault)
- Sergio Perez (Racing Point)
- Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo)
- Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
- Lance Stroll (Racing Point)
- Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo)
- Pierre Gasly ( Toro Rosso)
- George Russell (Williams)
- Alexander Albon (Red Bull)
- Robert Kubica (Williams)
- Daniil Kvyat ( Toro Rosso)
What made matters worse for Alexander Albon was that he crashed out of the opening Q1 session. Meanwhile, home hero Daniil Kvyat had a tough weekend when he encountered engine problems twice.
So, when the five red lights go out for the Russian Grand Prix 2019, Max Verstappen will have to scythe his way through the pack from 9th. However, until he reaches the tail of the top 5, the race will be a Mercedes vs Ferrari affair.
Verstappen, Albon and Gasly copped five-place grid drops as they took new internal combustion engines. However, Kvyat has an all-new power unit, with all elements bar the battery, being changed. Meanwhile, Robert Kubica was hit with a penalty for changing multiple elements on his Mercedes power unit.
