Isack Hadjar has installed his fifth power unit of the season, breaking parc fermé regulations. As a result, he will start from the pit lane at the Italian Grand Prix. Pierre Gasly will face the same fate.
From the most exciting race of his career so far to one of the potentially most difficult, Isack Hadjar, coming off his first Formula 1 podium last week at Zandvoort, will be forced to start the Italian Grand Prix from the pit lane.
Racing Bulls decided to replace the power unit that the French driver used in yesterday’s qualifying with a completely new one, his fifth of the season, leading to the inevitable penalty.
As we have known for several years, each driver has four power units available to use and rotate across the 24 scheduled Grands Prix. Introducing a fifth unit automatically triggers a penalty.
Moreover, replacing the power unit after qualifying caused Racing Bulls to break parc fermé rules. This will force the 20-year-old Parisian to start the Italian Grand Prix from the pit lane.
The Italo-Austrian team had already planned to replace Hadjar’s power unit before qualifying. The disappointing qualifying result merely limited the impact of the penalty that Isack would have received at the end of the day anyway.
After qualifying, Hadjar was quite vocal about his frustrations with Carlos Sainz’s on-track behaviour. In his view, the Spanish driver blocked him during the out-lap, costing him the chance to reach Q2.
“The out-lap was a disaster with Carlos, he was just ‘playing’ and not letting me pass. I mean, I don’t even know why he went out on track with used tyres just to do a few laps. I don’t understand the purpose. Then I made a mistake on my lap, and that’s it. It’s my first qualifying mistake in a while, so it happens.”
“I had new tyres, he had used ones. He was playing, trying to make my out-lap difficult, and then he didn’t let me pass properly. Honestly, I have no idea what he was doing.”
For Racing Bulls, yesterday’s qualifying at Monza was one of the most challenging of the season. Both VCARB02 cars were eliminated in Q1. Liam Lawson had to lift off on his final attempt due to a noticeable slide at Lesmo 1, which sent him into the gravel. For the New Zealander, this ended any hope of reaching Q2.
In addition to Lawson and Hadjar, Lance Stroll and the Alpine cars of Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly were also eliminated in Q1, a session where all 20 cars were separated by just 0.8 seconds.
Following yesterday’s outcome, Alpine decided to implement the same strategy as Racing Bulls. The French team broke parc fermé regulations to fit a new power unit on Pierre Gasly’s A525.
As a result, the French driver will also have to start from the pit lane, just like Isack Hadjar. The team officially announced the power unit change for Gasly’s car, a driver who won at Monza five years ago, with the following statement:
“Pierre will start from the pit lane in today’s Italian Grand Prix after the team removed his car from parc fermé. Car number 10 will be fitted with a new power unit for today’s race.”
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