Max Verstappen has been handed a three-place grid penalty for the Japanese Grand Prix after the stewards deemed his actions during qualifying unsafe.
The Toro Rosso driver stopped on track during the first part of qualifying in an unsafe position where his car was pointing sideways across the circuit, causing double waved yellow flags.
That scuppered several flying laps for other drivers including Jenson Button.
He will drop from 15th to 18th on the grid following the penalty.
“Car 33 experienced a sudden power loss at the exit of turn 11, the driver initially moved to the left side of the track towards a safe position and when it was about to stop, moved to the right onto the racing line, where it eventually stopped,” the stewards said in a post-qualifying statement.
“This caused double yellow flags to be shown and endangered oncoming drivers.”
