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Red Bull F1 title contender Max Verstappen has been reprimanded with a five-place grid drop for the Qatar Grand Prix. The Dutchman, who was investigated for a double yellow flag infringement in Q3 has been penalized at a weekend which could be critical for his title.
Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas has also been penalized with a three-place grid drop for single yellow flag infringements on his qualifying lap. Penalties for both drivers have shuffled the starting grid for the race at the Losail International Circuit.
Max Verstappen has been penalized with a laptime deletion and two penalty points have been added to his license, which totals to four points over a 12-month period. The Dutchman failed to lift off the throttle or slow down under the double yellow flags waved at him on his final qualifying lap of the session.
Red Bull F1 and Max Verstappen have argued their case, saying there were no signals on the dashboard or telemetry suggesting any yellow flags, due to which the driver did not slow down. However, the FIA's statement on the decision read:
“Appendix H of the Code states that flags and lights have the same meaning (and hence a flag signal must be complied with). Appendix H places the onus of responsibility of complying with flag signals clearly on the driver, so not withstanding the fact the team argued that the turning off of the yellow sector on the FIA marshalling system some 34 seconds prior to the driver reaching the yellow flag signified that it was “play on”, it was the driver’s responsibility to take the appropriate action when entering what was a double yellow flag area.”
Bottas admitted to the FIA stewards that he did not see the yellow flags and therefore did not slow down on his lap in the qualifying session.
Explaining the reason for penalizing the driver, the FIA decision statement said:
“The driver admitted he did not notice the yellow flag displayed at Flag Point 16.6 and conceded that he did not reduce speed as required in the yellow flag area despite noting that Car 10 was stationary on the pit straight.”
Apart from the three-place grid drop for the race, Bottas has also been reprimanded with one penalty point, adding to his total of 5 points over a 12-month period.
Max Verstappen to start P7 on the grid while Valtteri Bottas will start P6
Red Bull F1 contender Max Verstappen's five-place grid drop sends him down to seventh place on the grid, behind Bottas, while his title rival Lewis Hamilton starts the race from pole position. However, Hamilton's wingman Valtteri Bottas also getting demoted cancels out most predictions made for the race prior to qualifying.
While the start of the race is predicted to be chaotic, a two-pitstop strategy over 57 laps could be employed by both Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas to surge up the grid. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see how this affects the championship momentum for the Dutchman with two races left on the calendar following the Qatar Grand Prix.
