'Leclerc to start ahead of Verstappen due to quirk in rules'

A loophole in the rules has given Charles Leclerc an edge over Max Verstappen in Belgium. Both drivers would have had to start from the back of the grid, but because of the way the Monegasque collected his penalties, he is allowed to start ahead of Verstappen anyway.

Leclerc will start ahead of Verstappen in Belgium anyway and this is due to the way he has collected his penalties, has The Race figured out. There is a quirk in the sporting regulations that makes this possible for the Monegasque.

Red Bull Racing and Verstappen chose to change all their components for FP1, while Ferrari changed components for both FP1 and FP2. According to the rules, when a driver receives more than fifteen places penalty at once, he starts at the back of the grid. This is exactly what Verstappen did and therefore he will have to start from the back on Sunday in Belgium.

Ferrari on the other hand paid close attention and only replaced the MGU-K and his Energy Store for FP1, giving him exactly fifteen places penalty. Leclerc only got five spots for changing his MGU-K, as it is already his second offence for that component, and received ten spots for changing his Energy Store.

Leclerc received new control electronics for starting FP2, which earned him an additional five spots penalty. The penalties are not cumulative. First he got a fifteen-place penalty and later an extra five-place penalty. If Leclerc had changed all his parts before FP1 he would have received a twenty spot penalty and would have had to start from the back of the grid like Verstappen, Lando Norris and Esteban Ocon.

The quirk in the regulations means that Leclerc can again change parts for FP3 without being part of Verstappen's group. Leclerc will battle it out with Mick Schumacher and Valtteri Bottas for spots fifteen to seventeen on Saturday during qualifying.