McLaren put to back of Sakhir pitlane
Bahrain Grand Prix organisers have apologised to McLaren fans after having to demote the Formula One leaders to the slow end of the pitlane for next Sunday's race
The garage allocation is based on last year's positions in the constructors' standings and McLaren were stripped of all their points in 2007 due to a spying controversy over possession of Ferrari data.
However the Mercedes-powered team, with Britain's Lewis Hamilton leading the drivers' standings, were given the fifth set of garages at the first two races of the season behind champions Ferrari, BMW Sauber, Renault and Williams.
Bahrain organisers had expected McLaren to take a similar position at Sakhir but said on Sunday they had been forced to make a late change after being told by Formula One Management that would not be the case.
McLaren will now get the last set of garages, next to tail-enders Force India.
"In Bahrain we do our utmost to ensure that fans of each team get to sit opposite their favourite team's pit garages to see the action unfold," said the circuit's chief operating officer Sheikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa in a statement.
"Sadly on this occasion, we must apologise to McLaren fans and accept that this is force majeure."
Bahrain's state-owned Mumtalakat holding company has a 30 percent stake in McLaren.
Share Or Save This Story
McLaren to finally trial 'Macarena-style' rear wing in Hungarian GP practice
Why Leclerc wasn’t penalised for clash with Piastri in Belgian GP
Why becoming a world champion for the first time has its own pressures
"You're not allowed to make a difference" – Verstappen says the fastest F1 drivers are penalised
Russell: Data shows software calibration behind recent F1 struggles, not driving style
Mercedes identifies Russell's F1 power unit software issue
Aston Martin's Hungarian GP upgrade is big – but not as big as F1 insiders expected it to be
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments