GUIDES · BETSLIP DOCTOR
How are multiple F1 grid penalties combined when the Grand Prix starting order is built?
For a Race, the starting order is built from Qualifying classification plus the grid procedure. Issue 09 first gives each classified driver with 15 or fewer cumulative grid penalties for the Race a temporary position equal to their Qualifying place plus the sum of their Race grid penalties. It then fills unoccupied positions and moves penalized drivers up where spaces remain. Drivers with more than 15 cumulative grid-position penalties for the Race start behind all other classified drivers, ordered among themselves by Qualifying classification.
For F1 viewers checking why the published Grand Prix grid differs from qualifying order after penalties. · Updated
Calculate a temporary position from qualifying and penalties
Start with the driver’s Qualifying position and add the Race grid penalties included by Article B2.5.4. The document’s 15-or-fewer clause uses cumulative grid penalties for the Race. When two or more drivers share a temporary position, their Qualifying classifications break the tie: the slower driver keeps the shared position and the other driver or drivers receive the positions immediately ahead.
The published Issue 09 PDF is marked up to show changes. In Article B2.5.4(b)(i) and (iv), “unserved” and “imposed in the previous twelve months” are crossed out. This explanation follows the wording retained in Issue 09 and does not carry those struck phrases forward.
Unpenalized drivers fill open places before penalized cars move up
The procedure begins with a nominally empty grid. After temporary positions are assigned to penalized classified drivers, unpenalized classified drivers take any unoccupied places in Qualifying order. Penalized drivers with temporary positions are then moved up to fill any remaining empty grid positions.
A driver with more than 15 cumulative grid-position penalties for the Race starts behind every other classified driver. Drivers in that group are ordered by their Qualifying classification. Unclassified drivers whom the Stewards permit to take part are placed behind classified drivers using the separate Qualifying classification rule.
A missing Qualifying session has a separate fallback
If Qualifying does not take place and the Stewards accept that it cannot, the Race grid is formed using the Drivers’ Championship classification in place of Qualifying classification. If neither grid-forming method can be applied, the Stewards decide the grid.
A hypothetical six-car grid
Assume six anonymous cars qualify A first, B second, C third, D fourth, E fifth and F sixth. B has three Race grid penalties and D has one, so both receive temporary position five. D is slower in Qualifying and keeps position five; B moves immediately ahead to position four. A, C, E and F are unpenalized, so they take the remaining positions in Qualifying order: A first, C second, E third and F sixth. The resulting illustration is A, C, E, B, D, F. In a separate hypothetical case, a driver with 16 cumulative grid-position penalties for the Race starts behind all classified drivers; the >15 threshold is a count of penalties, not a count of events. No real driver or event is represented.
Related questions
Is the 15 threshold a count of races?
No. The Issue 09 Race grid procedure counts cumulative grid penalties for the Race. The more-than-15 clause places those drivers behind the other classified drivers.
Does Issue 09 still limit the count to unserved penalties from the previous 12 months?
Those phrases appear crossed out in the published Issue 09 text at B2.5.4(b)(i) and (iv). This draft follows the retained wording, but the marked change should be checked by the editorial source owner before publication.
What happens if two drivers have the same temporary position?
Their Qualifying classifications determine relative order. The slower driver keeps the shared temporary position, and the others receive positions immediately ahead.