Sainz, Magnussen to start French GP from back of the grid

Sainz, Magnussen to start French GP from back of the grid

Formula 1

Sainz, Magnussen to start French GP from back of the grid

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Carlos Sainz and Kevin Magnussen will make up the back row of the French Grand Prix, after both drivers took extensive power unit penalties.

Ferrari had already committed Sainz to a ten-place grid penalty on Friday when he used a control electronics that was outside his allocation, but in similar form to Charles Leclerc in Canada, the majority of the changes were taken on Saturday with Sainz receiving a new internal combustion engine (ICE), turbocharger, MGU-H and MGU-K.

The number of new components taken leads to an automatic back of the grid start, but Sainz will not necessarily start in 20th position.

That’s because Magnussen has taken the same four components that Sainz has on Saturday, also leading to the same punishment. With two drivers receiving a back of the grid start, their quickest lap times in qualifying will decide who starts from 19th position and who is 20th.

Sainz had been quickest in FP2 but then Ferrari slipped behind Max Verstappen in the final session, with the championship leader topping the times by 0.354s from Sainz and 0.637s from Leclerc.

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