Bottas to start Italian Grand Prix last after “strategic” engine change

19 comments on “Bottas to start Italian Grand Prix last after “strategic” engine change”

1. 

   Patrick (@paeschli)
   10th September 2021, 18:05

   How does this make sense?
   1. 

      SpaFrancorchamps (@spafrancorchamps)
      10th September 2021, 18:10

      I don’t understand either.
   2. 

      Nick (@notacop)
      10th September 2021, 18:15

      So he can cover Hamilton easier when Mercedes rivals are pushing on track.
   3. 

      Srdjan Mandic (@srga91)
      10th September 2021, 19:18

      @paeschli
      They need a 4th PU anyway and by splitting their penalties (Bottas this weekend and Hamilton on another), they make sure they have at least one car at the front. Plus Monza isn’t the worst place for overtaking either.
      And Bottas can also score between one and three points in the sprint, because the penalty doesn’t come into effect until the race on Sunday.
   4. 

      anon
      10th September 2021, 19:39

      @paeschli it is a consequence of the crash between Bottas and Russell in Imola – because Bottas’s power unit was written off in that accident, he had to switch to a new power unit prematurely. That means he would, at some point this season, have to take a power unit penalty for taking an extra power unit.

      There are meant to be 7 or 8 races remaining in the season (it depends on whether we do definitely get a replacement for the Australian GP – whilst a race in Qatar was supposedly in the works, the announcement hasn’t been forthcoming yet). For a driver in Bottas’s position, if you change the engine now, it means you can probably able to balance your mileage across your remaining components to avoid having to take another power unit before the end of the season.

      The other aspect is, because the sprint race tomorrow counts as a qualifying session, Bottas can start that race from the front row and earn a couple of points before the main race. Although he is going to have to take the pain of a grid drop on Sunday, there is the potential to mitigate some of that damage by scoring some points on Saturday.
2. 

   RandomMallard (@)
   10th September 2021, 18:06

   Going to be interesting to see what Merc do tomorrow, and how Bottas will react knowing he’s no longer a Merc driver for next season. Considering how important 1 point could be in this championship, I could see Merc (try to) swap the drivers around during/near the end of Sprint Qualifying, as Bottas would lose a point (but Merc keep the same total) but no pole position come Sunday
   1. 

      lucifer (@lucifer)
      10th September 2021, 18:09

      i don’t see the problem of swapping the merc drivers if they 1 and 2 in the spring race as bottas is starting from the back anyway
      1. 

         RandomMallard (@)
         10th September 2021, 18:12

         @lucifer I don’t think there will be a problem from the team’s perspective, I think it’s how co-operative Bottas wants to be now he knows he isn’t at Merc next year. I expect he’ll co-operate, but we’ll have to wait and see
3. 

   sumedh
   10th September 2021, 18:07

   Isn’t a new power unit a 10 place penalty?

   And if Bottas wins the Sprint tomorrow, 1) Does he still get 3 points? 2) Is he credited as the pole position holder?
   1. 

      RandomMallard (@)
      10th September 2021, 18:11

      A new engine (i.e. traditional combustion chamber) is 10 places, a full new power unit adds up to something like 35 or 45 or something.

      1) Will still get 3 points yes
      2) Not sure about pole though. Schumacher at Monaco in 2012 wasn’t the official holder, despite being fastest in Quali, Mark Webber was. However Leclerc was pole position holder in Monaco this year. I’m not sure though to be honest
      1. 

         Esploratore (@esploratore1)
         10th September 2021, 18:20

         Usually when you get penalised you lose pole, leclerc wasn’t, so he kept it.
         1. 

            RandomMallard (@)
            10th September 2021, 18:24

            @esploratore1 Thanks! I’ll try and remember that for the future. Meaning that the original’s commenter’s Q2 answer is no.
      2. 

         Tommy Scragend
         10th September 2021, 18:25

         @esploratore1 is right. Leclerc wasn’t penalised, he just failed to start the race.

         Bottas won’t be credited with pole for the Italian GP.
      3. 

         Jockey Ewing
         10th September 2021, 22:21

         IIRC Ferrari gambled with Leclerc car, they did not swapped major parts after the crash, because those were apparently ok. It was about replacing the gearbox, they decided not to do so, and then when they fired up the car and he tried to go to the grid, it became clear that the decision was bad.
         Today I have heard something similar, so yes changing multiple parts of the power unit can imply more than a 10 place grid drop.
         1. 

            Jockey Ewing
            10th September 2021, 22:28

            And yes, imo the difference keeping or loosing a pole in the statisics depends of whether the grid grop is because of some changed parts or is because a non-technical, but sporting penalty, like unsafe driving or impeding.
4. 

   Stephen Higgins
   10th September 2021, 18:46

   Race this mockery of the total a makes sprint…
5. 

   petebaldwin (@)
   10th September 2021, 19:29

   I think Red Bull will do the same with Perez. They can get through the sprint first but if he’s still in a similar position, they’ll change everything and try to follow Bottas through the field.
6. 

   black (@black)
   10th September 2021, 19:43

   If Perez rises to 4th-5th in the Sprint race (and if he can rise to 3rd at the Race start) and Hamilton-Verstappen stay crash-free in P1-P2, then it’s Red Bull’s chance to attack Hamilton’s strategy in the race with both cars for a change.
   Bottas will spend most of the race climbing the grid, so Red Bull can potentially salvage a good result in a circuit that clearly doesn’t suit them.

   The good thing with the calendar is that the next 5 races at least are overtaking-friendly so Red Bull can choose any circuit for Verstappen’s obligatory engine change without having a massive disadvantage…
7. 

   Roger Duke
   10th September 2021, 23:56

   Punishment for Taking the fastest lap in Zandfort and making Hamilton pit again for Fresh tires to get fastest lap

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