Red Bull's Max Verstappen is now over halfway towards a one-event suspension after picking up penalty points during qualifying for Formula 1’s Russian Grand Prix.
Verstappen was judged to have failed to slow for the yellow flags that were shown when Williams’ Sergey Sirotkin spun through Turn 9 in Q1 at the Sochi Autodrom.
According to stewards Verstappen “admitted seeing the yellow flag and stated that he steered to the left to avoid the stationary car. However, the regulation is very clear and states ‘it must be evident that a driver has reduced speed’. The telemetry showed that the driver maintained full throttle and did not apply any braking.”
It was noted that Verstappen “expressed the view that he felt he had acted safely and stewards noted that the driver understood the error in not slowing and acknowledged that in the future he will comply with the regulations.”
Verstappen was handed a three-place grid drop that does not impact his start place due to already having taken on a sanction for the array of engine changes, as well as a gearbox change.
But stewards also issued two penalty points, bringing his 12-month rolling total to seven, with drivers allowed to rack up 12 points before receiving a suspension.
Verstappen picked up one penalty point at last year’s US Grand Prix for his corner-cutting antics while battling Kimi Raikkonen, and received two each for contact in China and Italy this season.
Romain Grosjean is the driver in the most danger of sitting out a round, having moved on to nine points in the wake of ignoring blue flags at the most recent round in Singapore.
