{"id":3200,"date":"2026-10-01T16:45:49","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T19:45:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/?p=3200"},"modified":"2026-10-01T16:45:51","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T19:45:51","slug":"pole-painted-on-wrong-side-forces-sepang-grid-changes-for-f1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/pole-painted-on-wrong-side-forces-sepang-grid-changes-for-f1\/","title":{"rendered":"Pole painted on wrong side forces Sepang grid changes for F1"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Pole position was mistakenly painted on the left.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Thursday\u2019s correction restored pole to the right and renumbered the grid.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Sepang subsequently passed its circuit inspection.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sepang\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/\">F1<\/a> starting grid had to be repainted on Thursday after <strong>pole position was marked on the wrong side of the track<\/strong>. The correction came before the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, which brings the championship back to the circuit for the first time since 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Team personnel noticed the discrepancy during Wednesday\u2019s track walks. Pole had been placed on the left, whereas the circuit\u2019s previous Formula 1 races used the right-hand side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reporting by <em>The Race<\/em> traced the mistake to administrative instructions supplied to the local organisers. <strong>Track workers had followed paperwork directing them to paint pole on the left<\/strong>, and FIA checks identified the error. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How was Sepang\u2019s starting grid corrected?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Workers covered the incorrect pole markings and renumbered the remaining positions. <strong>The space originally designated second became pole position.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The start line also needed adjustment. The incorrect pole had been ahead of the original line, creating a potential timing complication; after correcting the grid, workers moved the line to satisfy the minimum separation requirement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sepang passed Thursday\u2019s inspection following the changes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Formula 1 returns this weekend, from 2\u20134 October, to Malaysia, which hosts the Bahrain Grand Prix. <strong>GRANDE PR\u00caMIO<\/strong> will cover all the action at Sepang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">F1 today: FAQ<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why did F1 cars lose power before the Bahrain GP in Malaysia?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The FIA identified a combination of low engine speed, low grip, wet-weather energy management settings and Sepang\u2019s sector configuration. It distributed a software update before the race and announced a full review with teams and power unit manufacturers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Can Kimi Antonelli win the F1 championship in Singapore?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No. Antonelli leads George Russell by <strong>84 points<\/strong>, but even a Singapore Sprint and Grand Prix double would not secure the title. <strong>Austin on 25 October is his earliest possible opportunity<\/strong>, depending on his results and those of the remaining contenders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When is the next F1 race, and is Singapore a Sprint weekend?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The next race is the <strong>Singapore Grand Prix on 11 October<\/strong>, with track activity beginning on Friday, 9 October. It is a <strong>Sprint weekend<\/strong>: Sprint qualifying takes place on Friday, followed by the Sprint and Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Which side is pole position on at Sepang?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pole position is on the right-hand side following Thursday\u2019s correction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An administrative error put pole on the left instead of the right, requiring new grid numbering and an adjustment to the start line before the Bahrain GP in Malaysia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1020316462,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"42wp_featured_image_caption":"Sepang","42wp_featured_image_credits":"Alexander Seregin\/ASPPA Images Europe","42wp_featured_video":"","42wp_featured_image_hidden":false,"42wp_authors_list":[{"id":93,"location":""}],"footnotes":"","42wp_breaking_news":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[630,325,57,113],"42wp_author":[93],"class_list":["post-3200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-f1","tag-bahrain-grand-prix-in-malaysia","tag-f1-2026","tag-fia","tag-sepang","42wp_author-marcos-gil"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3200"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3200\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3201,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3200\/revisions\/3201"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1020316462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3200"},{"taxonomy":"42wp_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/42wp_author?post=3200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}