Max Verstappen is hit with a one place grid penalty for driving unnecessarily slowly on a cool down lap.

The Losail stewards heard from the Dutch driver and George Russell, their team representatives and reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video, timing, telemetry, team radio and in-car video evidence.

Verstappen was on a different preparation strategy to that of the Mercedes driver and was well outside of the delta. The Dutchman explained he had let Lando Norris and Fernando Alonso past.

Russell claimed that he had adhered to the delta and did not expect Verstappen 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 regarded this case as a complicated one in that clearly Verstappen did not comply with the race director's event notes and clearly was driving, in their determination, unnecessarily slowly considering the circumstances.

To the stewards it was obvious the Verstappen was attempting to cool his tyres. He also could see Russell 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 Russell 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 Mercedes driver had clear visibility of the Red Bull and that neither car was on a push lap.

Consequently Verstappen drops 1 grid position and receives one penalty point, bringing his total for the 12 month period to 6.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by karel, 01/12/2024 14:47

"In other words biasing Verstappen for nothing ! He himself had to slow down and why is Russel on such a speed in a cool down lap , proves how corrupt these stewards are and how corrupt FIA has become "

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2. Posted by Stitch431, 01/12/2024 7:16

"Absolutely ridiculous! But with both Derek Warwick and Gary Connell (both notorious Max proven haters with many dubious decisions on their slate, taken during the entire period Max drives in F1), it is no surprise ... George has been whining like a soccer player who let himself drop onto the grass without being hit, and asking the referee for a yellow card. The decision of 1 grid place, a punishment never given before, shows the stewards were not sure if there was a reason to punish Max, but because it is Max, they just had to do it... On the BBC I saw a comment that says it all: 2024 will be remembered as the year Max Verstappen had to fight McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes, and the FIA to become World Champion."

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