FIA confirm late demotion for F1 star at Miami Grand Prix

Alpine Formula 1 star Pierre Gasly has been hit with a late demotion on the starting grid at the Miami Grand Prix.

The 29-year-old qualified in P18 for lights out in Florida but has now been told that he is required to start from the pit-lane.

An official FIA document revealed that a late change had been made to Gasly's suspension.

This change so close to the race, under parc ferme conditions, therefore means that the Frenchman is now required to start from the pit-lane.

Jo Bauer, the technical delegate for the sport's governing body, noted that changes had been made to the set-up of the suspension for Gasly's car under parc ferme conditions.

Parc ferme, which literally means 'closed park' in French, is a designated time when cars can no longer be modified beyond certain parameters during a race weekend.

Therefore when Alpine made late suspension changes to Gasly's car, they knew that this would incur a pit-lane start for the French driver – something that has now been confirmed in an official ruling from the stewards.

However, it could well prove to be a prudent decision from the team given that Gasly was due to start the race down in P18, therefore only promoting Lance Stroll and Oliver Bearman ahead of him.

With wet weather predicted for lights out, Gasly and Alpine will know that a pit-lane start has certainly not ruled them out of contention in Miami.

They only need to look at the chaos in Brazil last year to know that anything is possible.

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