United States GP: Who is on Pole? What is the Starting Order of the Grid After Bottas & Alonso F1 Penalties?

The latter part of an F1 season never ceases to disappoint the fans amidst persistent chances of grid penalties for the power unit, ICE, and other component changes. Well, the United States GP is ramping up for such a closure to its race weekend, with 4 drivers already in the penalty pool.

The confirmation arrived in FP1 that Valtteri Bottas would be taking a new ICE (6th to be precise). Hence, the Finn would consequently be dropping 5 places from where he finishes in qualifying.

Formula One F1 – United States Grand Prix – Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas, U.S. – October 22, 2021 Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas during practice REUTERS/Brian Snyder

Meanwhile, the trio of Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, and George Russell, will be starting from the back of the grid after receiving a new power unit at the back of their cars. And yes, this is indeed going to mix up the grid in a dramatic fashion, with all of these drivers qualifying within the top 15.

The only drivers not to gain a position from the forthcoming grid drops would be Yuki Tsunoda and Esteban Ocon in P10 and P11, respectively. Hence, with most of the grid witnessing changes in starting positions, we might as well show you how the F1 cars will line up on the grid for Sunday’s main event.

Starting grid for Sunday’s United States GP

Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing)
Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes AMG)
Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing)
Charles Leclerc (Scuderia Ferrari)
Carlos Sainz (Scuderia Ferrari)
Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)
Lando Norris (McLaren)
Pierre Gasly (Scuderia AlphaTauri)
Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes AMG) 
Yuki Tsunoda (Scuderia AlphaTauri)
Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo)
Lance Stroll (Aston Martin Racing)
Nicholas Latifi (Williams Racing)
Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo)
Mick Schumacher (Haas)
Nikita Mazepin (Haas)
Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin Racing)
Fernando Alonso (Alpine)
George Russell (Williams Racing)

Drivers out of position at the US GP

Well, the award certainly goes to Bottas. For the second time in 3 race weekends, Bottas will be starting his race surrounded by a load of mid-field cars. The Finn did flaunt Mercedes’ blistering pace over FP1 in Austin, which is a sign that he could well have enough pace to see off his weekend in the top 4.

Formula One F1 – United States Grand Prix – Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas, U.S. – October 23, 2021 Alpine’s Fernando Alonso in action during qualifying REUTERS/Mike Blake

Apart from Bottas, there are the veteran drivers, Alonso and Vettel. Although their cars have hardly looked in good shape since the start of the US GP weekend, their experience could yet again come into play on Sunday afternoon.

Moreover, considering Alonso‘s blazing form at the moment, we might as well witness the Spaniard fight his way up the grid and potentially see the chequered flag from within the top 10. Hence, with massive twists and turns ahead, what will the end result look like at Circuit of The Americas? Well, we’ll know soon enough!

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