Isack Hadjar will start the Miami Grand Prix from the pit lane. This follows his exclusion from Qualifying for a technical infringement and a subsequent penalty for changes made under parc ferme conditions.
Qualifying Disqualification Explained
Hadjar, the Red Bull driver, had originally qualified ninth. This was seven places behind his team mate, Max Verstappen. Red Bull had shown encouraging pace after introducing an upgrade package.
However, stewards called Hadjar and his Red Bull team to an enquiry on Saturday evening. This followed an inspection of Hadjar’s car.
The stewards found a small section of the left and right-hand side floorboard protruding outside the permitted reference volume by 2mm. This contravened the regulations, leading to Hadjar’s disqualification from Qualifying.
Despite the disqualification, Hadjar was permitted to start the race from the back of the grid. Stewards deemed his practice times satisfactory.
Further Penalties for Red Bull Driver
A later update confirmed changes to power unit elements and the control electronics unit under parc ferme conditions. As a result, Hadjar will now start from the pit lane.
Red Bull’s Response
Red Bull have accepted the penalty and will not appeal. Team boss Laurent Mekies apologised to Hadjar for the mistake.
“We made a mistake and we respect the decision of the Stewards,” said Mekies. “No performance advantage was intended nor gained from this error.”
Mekies added, “We will learn from this incident and assess our processes to understand how it occurred and to take steps to ensure it cannot happen again.”
“As a team, we apologise to Isack, and to our fans and partners. We learn the hard way today but we will move forward.”
“Now our focus is on converting yesterday’s encouraging showing into a strong race performance this afternoon.”
Miami Grand Prix Schedule Change
The Miami Grand Prix will start at 1300 local time, earlier than planned. The decision was taken due to forecast heavy rain. Kimi Antonelli is set to start on pole for Mercedes.