FIA confirm 70-PLACE F1 grid penalty ruling at Canadian Grand Prix

Photo: © IMAGO

Canadian Grand Prix

FIA confirm 70-PLACE grid penalty ruling at Canadian Grand Prix

The penalties were handed out to two drivers

Chris Deeley Editor

Experienced sports writer covering F1 and other motorsports since 2023

Sunday 15 June 2025 18:57 Updated: 18:02

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The FIA have announced a monster penalty ruling for F1 drivers Pierre Gasly and Liam Lawson at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Pierre Gasly and Liam Lawson started away from the other 18 cars in the race when they took to the grid in Montreal, after a raft of changes to their cars overnight.

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Gasly had two power unit parts changed outside of his allowance for the year (energy store and control electronics), which conveyed a total of 20 penalty places on the grid.

Meanwhile, Lawson's huge set of power unit alterations meant he was hit with a nominal 50-place penalty – but the lack of a 68th grid slot means that he just started from the pits instead.

F1 stewards send two drivers to start from pit-lane

In a rare instance of common sense in sporting rule-making, any driver with penalties totalling more than 15 places are immediately counted as that driver starting from the pit lane.

FIA F1 technical delegate Jo Bauer wrote in his note to the stewards: "All the above listed PU components have been replaced without the approval of the FIA technical delegate, this not being in accordance with Article 40.3 of the 2025 Formula One Sporting Regulations.

"Also changes have been made to the set up of the suspension of car number 30.

"Therefore car numbers 10 and 30 should now be required to start from the pit lane according to Article 40.9 a) of the 2025 Formula One Sporting Regulations."