Max Verstappen surrenders pole position to George Russell after incurring a rare one-place grid penalty in Qatar qualifying drama.
Verstappen narrowly avoided the traditional three-place grid penalty for impeding a driver, BUT… the FIA still decided to sanction the Dutchman following the Qatar Grand Prix qualifying session.
The stewards imposed a one-place grid penalty—just enough to swap his position with George Russell. This marks a first in Formula 1. While Verstappen loses his pole position, he remains on the front row, starting second.
The Dutch driver had impeded Russell during the latter’s preparation lap for his final Q3 run. The Mercedes driver approached Verstappen’s Red Bull at high speed and had to veer onto the curb at considerable velocity to avoid a collision.
Gianpiero Lambiase, Verstappen’s race engineer, reassured him over the radio, stating he was within the FIA’s required delta time range.
After the session, Verstappen expressed disbelief that the FIA would act against him over such a misunderstanding:
“If they take the pole away from me for this, then of course it makes no sense anymore. We were all driving slowly. I don’t know what else I could have done differently.”
“The fact that I have to drive like this is already very strange to me. Otherwise, next time I’ll drive flat-out and pretend to crash everywhere. Then George would have had to brake. I brake too, don’t I?”
The FIA has indeed decided to penalize the four-time world champion, though not with the usual three-place grid drop.
This decision caused surprise in the paddock. Incidents during warm-up laps typically result in a reprimand. The FIA is now taking a new approach with this one-place penalty.
“Car 1 (Verstappen) was following a different preparation strategy compared to Car 63 (Russell). Car 1 was significantly outside the delta, and its driver explained he had allowed Cars 4 and 14 to pass. The driver of Car 63 stated he had respected the delta and did not expect Car 1 to be on the racing line. He added that if a car is driving slowly in a high-speed corner, it should not be on the racing line.”
“The stewards view this case as complex, as Car 1 clearly failed to adhere to the race director’s event notes and, in our determination, was driving unnecessarily slowly under the circumstances. It was evident that the driver of Car 1 was attempting to cool his tires. He could also see Car 63 approaching, as he repeatedly checked his mirrors on the short straight between Turns 11 and 12.”
“Unusually, this incident occurred when neither car was on a flying lap. If Car 63 had been on a fast lap, the penalty would very likely have been the usual three-place grid drop. However, to mitigate the penalty, it was clear that the driver of Car 63 had a clear view of Car 1, and neither car was on a fast lap.”
“We accept the stewards’ decision,” said Jonathan Wheatley, Red Bull Racing’s sporting director. “The most important thing is that Max can still start from the front row. Our focus now is on tomorrow’s race.”
Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz was not penalized for the unsafe release in qualifying in front of a Mercedes. As is customary in such cases, the team incurs a fine. Ferrari will be required to pay €5,000.
The updated starting grid:
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | George Russell | Mercedes W15 | 1:21.241 | 1:21.069 | 1:20.575 |
| 02 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Honda RBPT RB20 | 1:21.579 | 1:20.687 | 1:20.520 |
| 03 | Lando Norris | McLaren Mercedes MCL38 | 1:21.578 | 1:20.983 | 1:20.772 |
| 04 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren Mercedes MCL38 | 1:21.821 | 1:21.121 | 1:20.829 |
| 05 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari SF-24 | 1:21.278 | 1:21.000 | 1:20.852 |
| 06 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes W15 | 1:21.637 | 1:21.095 | 1:21.011 |
| 07 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari SF-24 | 1:21.447 | 1:21.199 | 1:21.041 |
| 08 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin Mercedes AMR24 | 1:21.608 | 1:21.208 | 1:21.251 |
| 09 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull Honda RBPT RB20 | 1:21.675 | 1:21.425 | 1:21.425 |
| 10 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari VF-24 | 1:21.891 | 1:21.387 | 1:21.500 |
| 11 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine Renault A524 | 1:21.843 | 1:21.437 | |
| 12 | Guanyu Zhou | Stake F1 Kick Sauber C44 | 1:22.103 | 1:21.501 | |
| 13 | Valtteri Bottas | Stake F1 Kick Sauber C44 | 1:21.927 | 1:21.731 | |
| 14 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB Honda RBPT VCARB 01 | 1:22.364 | 1:21.771 | |
| 15 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Mercedes AMR24 | 1:22.011 | 1:21.911 | |
| 16 | Alex Albon | Williams Mercedes FW46 | 1:22.390 | ||
| 17 | Liam Lawson | RB Honda RBPT VCARB 01 | 1:22.411 | ||
| 18 | Nico Hülkenberg | Haas Ferrari VF-24 | 1:22.442 | ||
| 19 | Franco Colapinto | Williams Mercedes FW46 | 1:22.594 | ||
| 20 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine Renault A524 | 1:22.714 |
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Verstappen Loses Pole as Russell Capitalizes in Qatar Verstappen Loses Pole as Russell Capitalizes in Qatar
