Max Verstappen lost his pole position at the Qatar Grand Prix after being penalized for an incident with George Russell during qualifying. The incident occurred when Verstappen, aiming to create a gap before his final flying lap in Q3, slowed down significantly, prompting Russell to take evasive action to avoid colliding with the Red Bull. Russell, visibly frustrated, overtook Verstappen and continued with his lap. Russell later described Verstappen’s driving as “super dangerous,” leading to an investigation by the stewards for “driving unnecessarily slowly.”
After a prolonged review, the stewards handed Verstappen a one-place grid penalty, demoting him to second place on the grid and promoting Russell to pole position. The stewards clarified that while the usual penalty for such an incident would be a three-place grid drop, they did not apply this in this case because Russell could clearly see Verstappen and both drivers were not on a push lap at the time. The decision was based on the fact that Verstappen had slowed down significantly while preparing for his lap, which was outside the expected delta time, and that he had allowed two other cars to pass.
The stewards’ statement elaborated: “Car No. 1 was on a different preparation strategy to that of car No. 63. Car No. 1 was well outside of the delta and the driver of car No. 1 explained he had let Cars Nos. 4 and 14 past. The driver of car No. 63 claimed that he had adhered to the delta and did not expect car No. 1 to be on the racing line.” The stewards determined that Verstappen’s actions were “unnecessarily slow considering the circumstances,” as he was attempting to cool his tires while being aware of Russell’s approaching car.
In addition to the grid penalty, Verstappen received one penalty point on his license, bringing his total to six points over the last 12 months. Interestingly, Verstappen’s last pole position in Belgium was also marred by a grid penalty for exceeding power unit components, making his last official pole position at the Austrian Grand Prix in June. This penalty marks another setback for the reigning world champion as he looks to maintain his strong performance throughout the season.
