Austrian Grand Prix: Starting grid with penalties applied

Ian Parkes
Sunday 4 July 2021 13:00 - Updated: 13:04

Sebastian Vettel is the main loser ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix after the Aston Martin driver was handed a three-place penalty for the race at the Red Bull Ring.

Vettel was adjudged to have blocked Alpine's Fernando Alonso towards the end of the second qualifying session, to the fury of the two-time F1 champion.

Although Alonso later exonerated Vettel of blame given the actions of cars ahead who had slowed through turns nine and 10 to start fast laps despite race notes instructing them not to do so, the German driver was unsurprisingly penalised.

After qualifying eight, Vettel will now start 11th, while Alonso is down in 14th despite believing he had the pace to be fourth or fifth on the grid.

Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz escaped punishment for deliberately slowing and causing the domino effect that led to Vettel holding up Alonso.

Bottas starts fifth behind polesitter Max Verstappen in his Red Bull, while Sainz benefits from Vettel's penalty as he moves up a place from 11th to 10th.

The full grid is...

#F1 - Final Starting Grid for the #AustrianGP 🇦🇹 ⬇ pic.twitter.com/UaJQT44Vc4

— FIA (@fia) July 4, 2021