Penalty for Max Verstappen: changes the front row of the Qatar GP

Max Verstappen leaves first place to George Russell

Max Verstappen will not start ahead of everyone in the Qatar Grand Prix scheduled for Sunday, in spite of the pole position he won at the end of qualifying. In fact, the FIA race commissioners penalized the Dutchman for misconduct right during the qualifying sessions: effectively changing the front row, with Verstappen climbing one place and leaving the first position to George Russell.

According to what was communicated through official Formula 1 channels, Verstappen allegedly slowed down excessively after the last launched attempt, thus goingì to disturb the very Russell who was coming up behind him, denying him the chanceà to improve his time because heé forced an evasive maneuver towards the escape route.

Russell himself had described the effects of the episode in these terms at the end of the session: "I found myself in the gravel – the words of the British driver, whose best time was 55 thousandths slower than that of the world champion -, è it happened a couple of corners before starting the last launched lap and è probably that is why I could not improve myself".

The penalty surprised Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, who at the microphones of 'Sky Sports Uk' had spoken of simple on-track maneuvers to find the best position, with no intention of harming Russell. The FIA, però was not of the same opinion and imposed a penalty position on Verstappen.