Valtteri Bottas has been handed a three-place grid penalty for the Qatar Grand Prix after failing to respect a single-waved yellow flag during qualifying.
At the end of Q3, AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly stopped on the start/finish straight with a broken front wing and a puncture after he ran aggressively over a kerb.
Bottas continued at pace through the final sector and was found guilty of not respecting a yellow flag that was deployed.
“The driver admitted he did not notice the yellow flag displayed at Flag Point 16.6 and conceded that he did not reduce speed as required in the yellow flag area despite noting that Car 10 was stationary on the pit straight,” read a statement from the stewards.
Bottas ended qualifying in third place, while team-mate Lewis Hamilton secured pole position for the race.
The Finn is now set to line-up in sixth place for the start of the Grand Prix. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was dealt a five-place grid drop after ending the session in second place.
Gasly now moves onto the front row alongside Hamilton for the start of the race, while Fernando Alonso and Lando Norris move into third and fourth respectively.
