Grosjean to start Mexican GP from pit lane after floor change

Romain Grosjean will start the Mexican Grand Prix from the pit lane after Haas changed the floor on the Frenchman's car overnight.

Having struggled throughout the weekend, Grosjean qualified last on the grid on Saturday, saying he was mystified by the poor handling of his car. Following investigations into the reasons for Grosjean's struggles, Haas has changed the floor on his car ahead of the race.

Parc Ferme regulations allow teams to replace items for an identical part without penalty if granted permission by the FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer. However, if the replacement part is of a different specification, then a driver is required to start from the pit lane.

The FIA has confirmed the replacement floor is not of the same specification as Grosjean used in qualifying, and as a result he will be forced to start from the pit lane rather than from last on the grid.

Jolyon Palmer has also been given permission to start the race from the back of the grid having not taken part in qualifying when Renault found a crack in his chassis. Palmer is allowed to start having set satisfactory times in practice.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.