Max Verstappen has lost pole position for the Qatar Grand Prix after being penalised for driving unnecessarily slowly in the final phase of qualifying.
The stewards issued the Red Bull driver with a one-place grid penalty. He will therefore start from second place behind George RussellRace control announced before the end of today’s qualifying session the Red Bull driver was under investigation for his driving prior to his final flying lap. Russell complained the Red Bull driver held him up and forced him wide by going too slowly.
Drivers are required to obey a maximum time between the Safety Car lines after the pit lane exit and before the entrance. Verstappen was passed by Alonso, Norris and Russell as he prepared to begin his final lap.
Russell came close to colliding with Verstappen as he passed the Red Bull driver through turns 12 and 13. He complained on his radio it was “super-dangerous by Verstappen.”
Although neither driver was on a flying lap at the time of the incident, the stewards agreed with Russell’s claim that Verstappen was driving too slowly on the racing line.
“Car one [Verstappen] was on a different preparation strategy to that of car 63 [Russell],” they noted. “Car one was well outside of the delta and the driver of car one explained he had let cars four [Norris] and 14 [Alonso] past.
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“The driver of car 63 claimed that he had adhered to the delta and did not expect car one 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 one 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 one 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 three grid position penalty, however in mitigation of penalty, it was obvious that the driver of car 63 had clear visibility of car one and that neither car was on a push lap.”
Verstappen said he slowed down at that point on the track because other cars ahead of him had backed off. “There were two cars in front of me also making a gap, so I had to make a gap,” he said. “And I knew that everyone was on a slow lap, not on a push lap.
“Then I think George got excited. He wanted to pass and get around. That’s fine, everyone of course tries to get their position, to have the best possible start to the lap.”
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Russell, sitting with Verstappen in the press conference, said he was “following my delta” time. “I didn’t want to get penalised because we’re told to follow the delta.”
The stewards also handed Verstappen one penalty point on his licence. He is now on six for the current 12-month period.
One-place grid penalties are rare in Formula 1, but not unprecedented. Nico Hulkenberg received a one-place grid drop at the German Grand Prix in 2016.
Updated 2024 Qatar Grand Prix grid
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2024 Qatar Grand Prix
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Iosif (@afonic)
30th November 2024, 22:22
What a joke, really. Losing a pole for driving slowly in a… slow lap. I would get it I’ve was slower than the delta but…
SPArtacus
30th November 2024, 22:41
And, more importantly, Russell wasn’t on a quali lap. This is one of the strangest penalties I’ve ever seen.
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
30th November 2024, 22:47
Let’s be clear. Driving slowly on the racing line. Should have gotten 3 place drop. With all these teams, if it was the other way around Wes be hearing the penalty was justified.
SPArtacus
1st December 2024, 1:33
Let’s be clear:
A. No one has ever been penalized for impeding a warm up lap before in quali
B. No one has ever received a grid drop for failing to meet a delta time in quali, which includes George during quali
C. Mercedes had encouraged George to try and pass Max AND Alonso. They told George on the radio that Max and Alonso were on top of each other. So, not only could George see Max and his pace, but he was aware there was a pile up in the final sector and that Max was also about to start a quali lap.
D. Look at the onboard and you’ll see it wasn’t even remotely “dangerous.” The fact GR mentioned it with no anger at the time and then didn’t even think of it until half way through his cool down lap shows even if he didn’t expect to be able to milk it for a penalty.
E. George didn’t even get gravel on tires and he got past Max easily during that moment.
There is a lot of context missing in the article.
Mayrton
1st December 2024, 9:50
;-) as usual
Short Circuit (@jjohn)
1st December 2024, 4:37
@Jim from US
There is this from SQ
Sergio Perez and Yuki Tsunoda are under investigation for allegedly driving too slowly during sprint race qualifying, after the stewards noted 40 potential incidents involving 17 drivers.Every driver in the field bar Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg were identified as having exceeded the maximum time
40 potential incidents involving 17 drivers
Yet only Perez, Tsunoda and now Verstappen were called before the stewards.
What a coincidence!
Constantijn Blondel
1st December 2024, 6:48
“PenaltyGate” (TM) beckons? :)
Coventry Climax
1st December 2024, 11:03
There goes the reputation of the new race director, one event in. Brilliant job by the FiA again.
Carsten Nielsen (@carstenb)
1st December 2024, 11:42
Maybe just read the post in which the penalty is explained in more detail and you will see that there is a perfectly reasonable explanation:
https://www.racefans.net/2024/12/01/third-time-unlucky-verstappens-strange-one-place-qatar-grid-penalty-explained/
Coventry Climax
1st December 2024, 18:47
@carstenb
While that may seem a ‘reasonable’ (vague word here) explanation to and for you, it does not actually explain things at all, it merely tries to justify, which is a completely different thing.
Carsten Nielsen (@carstenb)
1st December 2024, 20:05
You are entitled to your view, I have more mine
t1redmonkey (@t1redmonkey)
30th November 2024, 22:23
Have to be honest, I didn’t even know it was possible to get a 1 place grid drop, I thought 3 was the minimum if they were giving out a grid drop penalty. Oh well, learn something new every day!
SPArtacus
1st December 2024, 1:36
I didn’t even know it was possible to get a one-place penalty for something no one has ever been penalized for. I also encourage people to go watch the onboard. Both the video and GR’s radio will show you why this penalty was massively questionable at best. FTR, I wanted anyone but Max or George to get pole.
Hans
30th November 2024, 22:23
Priceless…
Oxnard (@montalvo)
30th November 2024, 22:25
Lol, what..? What a clown show..
Michael A.
1st December 2024, 10:52
Oxnard – Formula One sinks further into its own cesspit!
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
30th November 2024, 22:30
They give a one place grid penalty, which is the tiniest penalty possible but also feel the need to give 1/12th of a race ban in the shape of a penalty point? Is it a serious offence or not, I’m confused…
Crawliin-from-the-wreckage- Special Unhinged Edition (@davedai)
1st December 2024, 2:14
The one point penalty is to make it appear as if it’s not related to betting on who would get pole. IMHO.
SPArtacus
1st December 2024, 8:09
Can you imagine having betted on Max only to learn that he got a one-place grid penalty for doing absolutely nothing?
M2X
30th November 2024, 22:37
And then the FIA wonders why the rhetoric on social media is so polarized…
RH
30th November 2024, 23:02
When the FIA openly has a vendetta against a driver. What a clown show.
Rigging the event in Brazil to hurt VER’s chances, now this.
They really just want a lottery.
BenHur
30th November 2024, 23:32
Well, Johnny the star steward / Wild West hanging judge is heavily involved with the betting business so there is that
Johnny must go
SPArtacus
1st December 2024, 1:39
Please tell me Herbert isn’t a steward here. I think there is bias. Not as bad as some think, but Herbert really is the one steward who I don’t trust, has professed his own bias many times and just shouldn’t be out there.
Crawliin-from-the-wreckage- Special Unhinged Edition (@davedai)
1st December 2024, 2:10
No this week it’s Derek Warwick, Garry Connelly, Matthieu Remmerie and Amro Al Hamad
SPArtacus
1st December 2024, 4:38
Oh. Thank god. Derek Warwick seems to be, by far, the most frequent steward. Connelly, IIRC, is a steward fairly often too. Not sure about the others.
SpaFrancorchamps (@spafrancorchamps)
30th November 2024, 23:40
What an absolute joke of a decision. And Russell really is a loser for pulling such shenanigans on other drivers.
Salty (@salty)
30th November 2024, 23:46
I’m sorry, but did you actually look at the stewards decision? And what did Russell pull?
SPArtacus
1st December 2024, 1:40
Look at George’s onboard video during the warm up lap and after the quali lap and you’ll see how is more than involved here..
Crawliin-from-the-wreckage- Special Unhinged Edition (@davedai)
1st December 2024, 2:18
He pulled the cute little toy that grandma gave him when he was a little boy. Silver bells on a string so he could play with his ding-a-ling
oweng (@oweng)
30th November 2024, 23:41
It’s a strange penalty, 1 place, but then again it might make sense. If they’ve investigated and found either a small advantage gained by driving slower than allowed to better prepare his tyres, or a disadvantage given to Russell then to apply a standard penalty such as 3 place drop would be overly harsh as it would only be affecting these 2 drivers.
I’d like to see F1 adopt penalties more relevant to those involved. Such as gaining an advantage meaning dropping back behind the car you got the advantage over (no matter what position this means) rather than a stock 5 second penalty.
Riccard
1st December 2024, 8:42
More relevant penalties might be nice, but would take very careful discussion to get right, followed by rule changes with examples so everyone knows what to expect.
Not just “hey let’s try this”
Dex
30th November 2024, 23:54
If he accepted that sheikh’s punishment for “swearing” I suspect he wouldn’t be getting this penalty, because if it was real it would be three place grid penalty, not this random, arbitrary thing they just pulled off. Or those 20 sec he got in a single race, albeit deserved, it came out very harsh (instead of expected 10 sec or so), especially since they (also randomly) seem to have reverted to handing out 5 sec penalties again.
This time it’s Max, it probably used to be some other drivers or teams before, someone will be next with that guy in charge. He comes from a culture where dictatorship and arbitrary leadership are the only known forms of governing anything.
Salty (@salty)
1st December 2024, 1:01
It is clear that George could be heard using the word “damn” during the incident. George has recently been noted for prolificate use of both “blimey” and “jeepers”, not to mention a clear and heavily onerous “oh my giddy aunt” at an event during the summer break. It remains to be seen if evidence that indicated that the latter event was indeed a private family birthday event hosted by George’s uncle, will be admitted by the FIA.
SPArtacus
1st December 2024, 4:40
That’s unacceptable. My great great grandmother was with me and she caught a case of the vapors when George explained “peach cobbler!” after a tank slapper.
SPArtacus
1st December 2024, 8:12
George exclaimed* thanks auto correct
An Sionnach
1st December 2024, 1:03
Odd. Explanation sounds like a load of old rubbish as well. When you’re explaining, you’re losing. Seems the minimum penalty wasn’t justified, so they made up another one. A sporting penalty in response to a non-sporting offence, plus the added insult of a penalty point. A fine and a warning would make more sense?
Salty (@salty)
1st December 2024, 1:18
Totally agree. It wasn’t worth of the minimum. So actually a non-event. I do think M4x could of been off the racing line, but George wasn’t on a flyer
An Sionnach
1st December 2024, 7:03
Yes, a mistake, but who cares? Stewarding can be unfairly criticised and here I am criticising it, unfortunately. It’s something that’s necessary as without it drivers can be punished by the unfair driving of others. Was George really disadvantaged a few corners from the start? There didn’t seem to be anything to that effect in the decision. I am open to being wrong (wouldn’t be the first time!), but stewarding has to be hands-off and sporting penalties have to be for sporting incidents. The helping hand of the stewards has to be there when necessary, and otherwise let them race. They weren’t even racing.
George’s behavior in this and the incident with Alonso earlier in the year has been a little two-faced. He’s driving well at the moment, and sometimes seems like a likeable, down-to-earth guy… and then he’s rolling around on the soil, crying to the ref as though he’s been shot.
SPArtacus
1st December 2024, 8:29
That’s what makes it so bizarre. They penalized Max for something that’s never been penalized before and then tried to pretend it had nothing to do with George’s claims he had been disadvantaged (and that claim by GR only came after the session as that angle hadn’t even occurred to him at the time as he so clearly wasn’t even mildly disadvantaged. His initial complaint being that it was “dangerous” & even immediately post-lap when you’d most expect a driver who felt he’d been comprised to complain that an incident was to blame for falling short, he didn’t, but he did say “check that incident” because he likely wanted to play any card he could to get Max behind). Worst of all, he had been told Max was in a clump of cars queuing up to start their lap, could see Max the entire time and was basically just trying to cut in front of him. The one mitigation I’ll give him is that it was engineer who suggested getting ahead of Max and Alonso (which was unrealistic).
Adam (@rocketpanda)
1st December 2024, 2:27
“it was obvious that the driver of car 63 had clear visibility of car one and that neither car was on a push lap” – so why the penalty? Nobody was impeded and just as much as you can argue Verstappen shouldn’t have been on the racing line, Russell had ‘clear visibility’ of him so could have moved and most importantly was not on a push lap. Weird penalty considering there’s been a lot of reprimands in the past for driving too slowly, never been a penalty before.
Ludewig
1st December 2024, 11:37
Why shouldn’t have Max been on the racing line when Russell wasn’t on a push lap? It makes sense for a driver on a push lap to get preference over a driver on a slow lap, but in this case it just seems bias in favor of Lord Russell.
Crawliin-from-the-wreckage- Special Unhinged Edition (@davedai)
1st December 2024, 2:44
Oh George I fear you shouldn’t have refused the advances of Echo. A sad life awaits.
(Ovid version, or near enough)
stefano (@alfa145)
1st December 2024, 3:11
I am equally annoyed by the fact that in official documents they write 63 in numbers and one in letters. Why, oh why??
W-K (@w-k)
1st December 2024, 5:54
The Chicago Manual of Style (section 8.8, 13th ed.)
Constantijn Blondel
1st December 2024, 6:53
@w-k, Mentioning Chicago gave me a pleasant, warm, happy feeling :)
Riccard
1st December 2024, 8:47
Yeah, this is actually generically good writing: small numbers like seven spelled out, longer numbers like ‘one thousand three hundred and twenty seven’ in numerals.
I agree that in this specific case where you report a collection of two-digit driver numbers that happen to go from 1 to 99, writing them consistently would be better.
But they’ve done the generically-expected thing.
Crawliin-from-the-wreckage- Special Unhinged Edition (@davedai)
1st December 2024, 3:14
George is a worthy head of the GPDA. I’ll expect to see a signed open letter of support for his complaint from the other l8 drivers, no make that 19 he’ll support himself.
Jonathan Parkin
1st December 2024, 5:01
And Robert Pattinson wondered if my head was hurting halfway through Tenet
I wish we could go back to an easier penalty system. We’ll be telling drivers off for coughing during their media obligations next
lynn-m
1st December 2024, 5:17
The show that was once a sport has become a complete and utter joke with these silly penalties all the time.
Nikos (@exeviolthor)
1st December 2024, 6:17
So from now on people are not allowed to drive on the racing line in a slow lap, right?
Jere (@jerejj)
1st December 2024, 6:25
I didn’t expect any grid penalty at all, given neither was on a flying lap & nothing happened in the end.
Furthermore, I don’t recall anyone ever receiving a 1-place grid penalty.
HerbertSteward (@madlewis)
1st December 2024, 7:13
The British biased FIA strikes again. And it’s getting serious bad forms this season. Did they really bend the rules and create a 1 place grid penalty? Holy….
MichaelN
1st December 2024, 8:32
The grid penalty is open ended. The stewards can also give five, eight, twelve or nineteen place drops if the circumstances are such that they feel this is appropriate. It’s all in the Sporting Regulations.
Again, precedence is irrelevant. This isn’t an English court.
Illusive (@illusive)
1st December 2024, 7:25
You’d think they cant sink any lower but they absolutely can. They didnt penalize Mercedes in Brazil for their illegal tyre pressure change, just a financial penalty for Lando for a dangerous start procedure lapse, no penalty for Sainz absolutely dangerously cutting the pit lane line and rejoining the circuit, no penalty for dangerous release of Sainz on pitlane yesterday. But this they penalized when Max had a car in front of him to slow down himself and neither George was on a push lap. My god these guys are joke.
MichaelN
1st December 2024, 8:28
Makes sense, driving slowly is dangerous and therefore rules are put in place to prevent this. The mitigating circumstances are a bit odd, as said loitering is either dangerous or not, but the stewards’ reasoning is understandable.
Drivers will of course point to the hybrids and the poor tyres, but the fact is most of them can prepare for a hot lap just fine. Do better is the obvious solution.
Nm
1st December 2024, 9:11
Just come in full throttle into a line of cars, pretend to hit them, penalty for the guy in front (if he is non british) seems like a good idea!
Japioooo
1st December 2024, 8:36
Nice, new ruling, which makes driving more dangerous.
Curious how this will unfold in Abu Dhabi. Warm up lap is getting almost impossible with a driver behind you. That driver can go suddenly full throttle and almost drive into you and the first driver can expect a grid penalty.
uzsjgb (@uzsjgb)
1st December 2024, 9:31
Exactly my thoughts too.
A long time ago there was a gentleman’s agreement, that you did not pass other cars whilst on your warmup lap, so as not to ruin their preparation for their own laps. That is long gone, but still most drivers will slow down and wait their turn. As Verstappen did, with the two cars in front of him (which incidently up until now was always a valid excuse for exceeding the delta time).
Now, it is too dangerous to drive slowly on your warmup lap, because you can never know if the car behind you will wait his turn or just floor it. And Verstappen is the guy to exploit this new precedent and floor it to get others punished.
But having said that, I think everyone involved will come to realize this ruling cannot become a precedent and Verstappen will remain the only one to ever be punished for it.
japioooo
1st December 2024, 11:18
If everyone involved agrees that this rule can’t become a precedent the grid penalty should be reversed. Otherwise this is the precedent and a very dangerous one.
It will be just another way to compete. A new dimension which makes qualifying more dangerous/ exciting.
Monaco next year will be a nice one.
HW Small
1st December 2024, 8:59
‘Russell complained’… Russell is doing a lot of complaining just now, but you can be sure if he was benefitting, he would not be complaining.
..
1st December 2024, 9:06
I don’t understand how people can support Russel. Born backstabber.
HerbertSteward (@madlewis)
1st December 2024, 9:32
I wouldn’t be surprised more drivers are gonna exploit this crap now. Too backstab other drivers for their own benefit. The FIA has made themself totally stupid again.
Moi
1st December 2024, 9:42
So if the reports are correct this same infringement, i.e. driving slowly in preparation for a fast lap to create some space ahead, was noted dozens of times.
Only Perez, Tsunoda and Max were investigated.
Only Max got a penalty.
The fact it is a 1-spot drop shows even they themselves are embarrased by it.
notagrumpyfan
1st December 2024, 9:42
I support stopping drivers who go too slow on a preparation lap. It’s up to the team (and luck) to send a car out at the right time.
But I cannot understand why they start now penalising this. It’s almost like an excuse to create more article and comments on social media.
Ludewig
1st December 2024, 11:42
Because they want another win for a British driver…
japioooo
1st December 2024, 11:21
Looking forward to Monaco next year with these new ruling in place. Gonna be a lot of grid penalties and a very busy race control.