Max Verstappen penalized, Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari on Interlagos sprint podium
Max Verstappen penalized, Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari on Interlagos sprint podium
Twist announced at the end of the sprint race of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix at the Interlagos circuit: Max Verstappen è was penalized 5 seconds thus dropping from third to fourth place behind Charles Leclerc, but remaining ahead of Carlos Sainz’s other Rossa.
After the race, Verstappen was being investigated for a possible rule violation under virtual safety car, introduced two laps from the end because Nico Hilkenberg’s Haas had spun, stopping at the side of the track.
The three-time world champion was penalized under Rule 56.5: the Dutchman did not meet the minimum time under virtual safety car, because when the lights turned green è transited 63 hundredths before the time limit.
According to race officials therefore Verstappen would have taken an advantage with the ’intent then to attack the McLaren of Oscar Pastri when the race was back clear with less than a lap to go, and when è he was warned that he was under the time limit he slowed down but not enough to avoid punishment.
Thusì sprint winner Lando Norris in a McLaren, favored by team orders that forced Oscar Piastri, in the lead until the penultimate lap, to let him pass, gains 3 points over Verstappen in the race for the world title aziché 2, or even just one as it would have been without team orders.
