Martin Brundle admits he can’t get head around ‘horribly confusing’ F1 rule

What Martin Brundle doesn’t know about Formula 1 generally isn’t worth knowing. But even the esteemed Sky Sports pundit can’t get his head around how grid penalties are applied ahead of Grand Prix.

Grid penalties are a hot topic as the F1 circus resumes at the iconic Spa circuit in Belgium after the four-week summer break. Seven drivers went into qualifying knowing they would be starting towards the back of the grid after their teams changed key components in their cars, including Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc.

The teams have decided to take penalties in Spa as it is relatively easy to overtake compared to Zandvoort, which hosts the Dutch Grand Prix next weekend. With so many drivers taking penalties at the same time, working out who starts where is a complex process which has even left Brundle, the voice of F1 in the UK for more than two decades, stumped.

READ MORE: Call for rule change to avoid 'meaningless' qualifying after Belgian GP chaos

Ahead of qualifying, Brundle admitted: “I’ve been shown how they calculate it, how they apply the penalties, car by car and how they move them back down again. It’s horribly confusing. It [the rule] seems a bit silly because the engines, the power units are around.

“As [Red Bull team boss] Christian Horner says, they do a world tour anyway. But it’s to control costs and to stop the big teams putting a new power unit in every day as they did. Back when I used to race Formula 1 cars, a team would have 80 engines [a season].

“They would either be in use, in transit, being prepared and it was ridiculous frankly. But that list [of driving incurring grid penalties] is ridiculous as well sadly.”

Should grid penalties for engine changes be scrapped? Have your say in the comments section below.

One alternative, suggested by Sky Sports colleague Karun Chandhok, is for teams to be docked Constructors’ Championship points rather than grid places.

The former F1 driver wrote on Twitter: “Anyone woken up annoyed this morning that the grid penalty system has made Qualifying a bit meaningless today with the top 3 from practice [Verstappen, Leclerc and Lando Norris] starting at the back?? I really think we need to go to an alternative system of constructors’ points penalties or something!”

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