Sepang’s Grid Is Already Changing Before Qualifying Begins.

Lindblad faces a back-of-the-grid start, Hadjar expects a five-place drop, and Colapinto carries a penalty from Baku into the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.

Qualifying hasn’t started, but three drivers already know their weekends at Sepang come with an extra complication.

Arvid Lindblad faces the biggest setback following Racing Bulls’ decision to introduce fresh power-unit components. Isack Hadjar expects a five-place penalty of his own, while Franco Colapinto must serve the punishment for his Baku collision.

For all three, outright speed will be only part of the task. They’ll also need to recover positions on race day.

Lindblad faces a race through the field

Racing Bulls announced on Thursday that Lindblad would receive multiple new power-unit components, triggering a back-of-the-grid penalty.

That puts the rookie’s emphasis firmly on Sunday. Whatever pace he finds in practice, he faces the prospect of spending the opening stages behind cars he might otherwise have qualified ahead of.

The team’s announcement establishes the expected consequence of the changes. His exact starting position will be settled when the official grid is assembled.

Hadjar expects five places, but sees a way back

Hadjar told reporters he expected a five-place drop, although the specific component behind it had not been confirmed in the reporting available on Thursday.

After returning to the podium in Baku, the Red Bull driver now faces another obstacle to repeating that result. He nevertheless believes Sepang offers opportunities to recover if the car has sufficient race pace.

That confidence comes with a qualification: Hadjar expects the circuit’s more conventional layout to provide a clearer test of Red Bull’s progress than Azerbaijan did.

As of Thursday, October 1, Hadjar’s expected five-place drop had not yet been formally confirmed by the stewards.

Colapinto brings Baku’s consequences with him

Colapinto’s five-place penalty is already confirmed.

The Alpine driver caused the collision with Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris at Baku’s first Safety Car restart. Because Colapinto retired and couldn’t serve the resulting 10-second penalty, stewards converted it into a grid drop for his next race.

For Hadjar and Colapinto, a strong qualifying result would still limit the damage. But Saturday’s timing screens won’t tell the whole story: the starting grid will need a second look once the penalties are applied.