Max Verstappen called to stewards for infringement under double waved yellow flags

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen has been summoned to the stewards for ignoring double yellow flags waved during the Qatar GP qualifying session. The Dutchman was summoned to report to FIA stewards at 1:00 pm on Sunday before the race at the Losail International circuit.

Max Verstappen was on his final qualifying attempt when Pierre Gasly's tire puncture brought out the double yellow flag. The incident resulted in several drivers having to abort their laps.

Although the FIA has a system in place for auto-deleting lap times for breaching the double yellows, Max Verstappen's lap was not deleted. According to the Dutchman's onboard camera, the double yellow flags did not get displayed on his dashboard, nor did he receive a team radio message about it, as it was not displayed on the race control screen either.

Regardless, Red Bull F1's title contender was unable to improve on his fastest lap time of the session with his final attempt, so even having it deleted wouldn't have affected his second-place qualifying position. However, if the driver is reprimanded with a penalty, it could shake things up for his race on Sunday.

According to paddock speculation, he might not be the only driver who did not slow down under the double yellow flags. However, he is the only driver to have been summoned for ignoring the double yellow flags. If there was a system malfunction responsible for his not being aware of the situation, Max Verstappen will likely escape penalty.

---

Max Verstappen enjoyed Losail circuit despite lacking pace in Qatar qualifying session

Max Verstappen believes the qualifying pace of his car during the session was not enough to beat the Mercedes drivers. However, the Dutchman said he enjoyed driving around the circuit and will have to figure out a way to improvise for the race.

Speaking after the session, Max Verstappen told F1's official channel:

"I had a lot of fun out there. Qualifying here has been really cool, it's a really beautiful track and a lot of fun to drive. Of course, it would have been even more fun if we would have been a bit faster, but sometimes that happens. I think still being second is okay. But it's a big gap, and also for tomorrow, when it's such a gap, it's going to be tricky. But we never give up."

In terms of race pace, Max Verstappen will likely be much closer to the Mercedes drivers. It will come down to his racecraft and the team's pit strategy, if not all-out pace.