F1 News: Max Verstappen Loses Qatar Pole Position After Grid Penalty

Max Verstappen has been handed a one-place grid penalty after a Qatar qualifying blunder.

Nov 21, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Oracle Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen (1) arrives before practice for the Las Vegas Grand Prix at Las Vegas Circuit. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen has experienced an unexpected setback at the Qatar Grand Prix as an FIA penalty stripped him of his pole position following an incident during the qualifying session.

Verstappen's initial triumph at the Lusail International Circuit marked his first pole position since the Austrian Grand Prix. However, the celebratory mood was short-lived due to the penalty for impeding George Russell, who will now start the race from pole.

The controversy centered around an incident in Q3 involving Verstappen and Mercedes' driver Russell. During the final stages of qualifying, Verstappen was executing an additional warm-up lap, thereby driving slowly before initiating his final push. Russell caught up with Verstappen between Turns 12-14 and the stewards found that the Red Bull driver subsequently impeding Russell.

The Stewards confirmed that as neither driver was on a push lap, the penalty would be just one grid position rather than the usual three.

The official statement from the Stewards confirmed the one-place grid penalty for Verstappen, explaining:

"The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 1 (Max Verstappen), the driver of Car 63 (George Russell), team representatives and reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video, timing, telemetry, team radio and in-car video evidence.

"Car 1 was on a different preparation strategy to that of Car 63. Car 1 was well outside of the delta and the driver of Car 1 explained he had let Cars 4 and 14 past. The driver of Car 63 claimed that he had adhered to the delta and did not expect Car 1 to be on the racing line. He stated that if a car was going slow in a high-speed corner, it should not be on the racing line.

"The Stewards regard this case as a complicated one in that clearly Car 1 did not comply with the Race Director’s Event Notes and clearly was driving, in our determination, unnecessarily slowly considering the circumstances.

"It was obvious the driver of Car 1 was attempting to cool his tyres. He also could see Car 63 approaching as he looked in his mirror multiple times whilst on the small straight between Turns 11 and 12.

"Unusually, this incident occurred when neither car was on a push lap. Had Car 63 been on a push lap, the penalty would have most likely been the usual 3 grid position penalty, however in mitigation of penalty, it was obvious that the driver of Car 63 had clear visibility of Car 1 and that neither car was on a push lap."

DOC 49 - Infringement - Car 1 - Alleged driving unnecessarily slowly https://t.co/nVLPv627jK #QatarGP #F1 #FIA pic.twitter.com/Xan5EJq4gC

— FIA (@fia) November 30, 2024