Verstappen and Bottas penalized on the grid in Qatar, Sainz escapes sanction

Hard blow for Max Verstappen in the fight for the world title. Qualified in 2nd position on Saturday evening for the Qatar Grand Prix organized this Sunday, the driver Red Bull will have to move back 5 places on the grid.

Verstappen was found guilty of not taking his foot off the gas at the very end of Q3 when a double yellow flag was being waved on the start/finish straight due to an incident for Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri).

The stewards recognized that Verstappen had not been warned by his team on the radio, nor on the wheel. Finally, there was no light indication either on the panels dedicated to this purpose. On the other hand, there was indeed a double yellow flag waved by a marshal.

The stewards reminded that the yellow flags waved by the officials have the same value as the illuminated signs. Furthermore, the driver must be able to control his car without external help, and therefore without information from his team.

Despite mitigating circumstances, Verstappen, who is 14 points ahead of Hamilton before a Grand Prix where the driver Mercedes will start on pole, received a penalty of 5 places. His best time was erased, but his first attempt in Q3 was already enough to hold the 2nd mark.

Verstappen, who will be 7th on the grid, is not the only driver penalized on the grid since he is joined on the guilty bench by Valtteri Bottas.

The Finn, however, received a lesser sanction because his offense only concerned a simple yellow flag. Qualified in 3rd place, the Mercedes driver slipped 3 places.

Carlos Sainz, the last driver summoned by the Losail commissioners, escapes any penalty. The Spaniard said he did not see the yellow flag but he spotted Gasly's car idling and chose to slow down significantly as he expected to encounter a yellow flag.

The double sanction of Verstappen and Bottas promotes Gasly to the front row, alongside Hamilton, while Fernando Alonso, superb 5th Saturday evening in Q3, climbs to 3rd position.