Max Verstappen maintains his 11th place on the grid in Singapore, despite the investigations

He is doing well. After a chaotic qualifying session for Max Verstappen, things could have gotten worse. Qualified only 11th, an unusual position for him this season, his behavior on the track could have pushed him back even further.

The Dutch driver was involved in three investigations for obstructing other drivers. First, in Q1 for getting in the way of Logan Sargeant. Then, in the pit lane, for stopping at the exit and blocking the Mercedes drivers for several seconds.

Whitewashed for the Sargeant case

For the first case, the Red Bull driver has been cleared by the stewards. The driver of car 1 stated that he was surrounded by numerous other cars during the warm-up laps, some of which chose to overtake him on the left and others on the right, so he decided that the safest option was to drive straight and hold his line, leaving a car’s width on his right. He stated that he believed any movement to the left or right could have resulted in a collision with one of the surrounding cars. The stewards accept these statements. Therefore, we determine that the driver of car 1 did not unnecessarily impede car 2, specify the stewards in their report.

A reprimand for the pit lane

For the second case, in the pit lane, Max Verstappen violated Article 37.5 of the FIA Sporting Regulations. Here, Max Verstappen waited for 14 seconds before starting, preventing other drivers from returning to the track whenever they wished for a final flying lap. The reigning double world champion stated that he acted in this way to create a sufficient gap with the other cars and avoid traffic. « Although no obvious advantage was gained by the driver waiting at the pit lane exit for an extraordinarily long time, the possibility of it having a negative impact on other drivers justifies a penalty », explain the commissioners who gave him a reprimand.

Another reprimand for the Tsunoda incident

Finally, at the beginning of the second session, Q2, the leader of the world championship impeded Yuki Tsunoda on his first flying lap. The Japanese had to abandon his effort as a result. The incident prevented him from setting a time since his last attempt was not counted, and he will have to start from the last position. « The team admitted that they had miscommunicated and failed to warn their driver before car 22 was alongside. »

For this new incident, the Dutch driver receives a second reprimand. As for Red Bull, they will have to pay a fine of €5,000 for not informing their driver on time.