The sprint race in Brazil this weekend is being touted as the best one yet, since the new race format was introduced last year.
Max Verstappen fell afoul of a poor tyre choice, as he struggled to fire up the medium tyres and saw himself drop down the grid order for Sunday’s race to P4, while pole sitter Kevin Magnussen did the best he possibly could have expected, finishing in P8, the final point scoring position.
Mercedes would not in their wildest dreams have thought that they would start the main event with a front row lockout, especially as Lewis Hamilton started the sprint all the way back in eighth place, however that dream has become reality because after Carlos Sainz takes his five-place grid penalty tomorrow for a change of engine components the Silver Arrows will take the first two grid positions.
This is unless a penalty emerges late in the day, with Hamilton currently under investigation alongside Guanyu Zhou and Daniel Ricciardo for a race start infringement, with race control confirming it will be looked at upon the completion of the race.
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It has been announced that the FIA are not looking at a jump start, but at a different type of infringement such as placing the car slightly outside of the grid box after the formation lap.
Should the trio be found guilty of wrong-doing at the start of the sprint, they will be given a penalty for Sunday’s race which will see them drop down the order from their finishing positions, with Hamilton, Ricciardo and Zhou finishing in third, eleventh and thirteenth respectively.
It is not particularly common that a driver is found guilty of starting a race too far forward in their grid spot, so for three drivers to be investigated at the same time is a real rarity.
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Mercedes have endured a difficult year, currently winless and on the hunt to make up 40 points in the battle with Ferrari in the constructors’ championship, so a potential front row lockout would be exactly what the doctor ordered, giving the Silver Arrows the best chance possible of getting their first win of 2022.
It would however sum up Hamilton’s year if he was to be penalised for a race start infringement, with the Brit’s luck at times contributing to the longest winless run of his career.
Team principal Toto Wolff will be praying that his team hold on to their sprint result, with the drivers both desperate to secure the team’s first win of the season before rebuilding to come back stronger in 2023.