Albers thinks Verstappen penalty is nonsense: 'It affects the championship'

"Sorry, but I think it's all idiocy. What am I supposed to say about it? Someone drives on the straight and then you get to see a yellow flag in a qualifying session", Albers begins in the Formula 1 podcast of The Telegraph. The former driver thinks it is good there are rules, but according to him, it gets in the way of the championship.

"The problem is, rules are rules. You're busy qualifying and then you have to go to the maximum to drive the best lap time. You're really focused on that. On the one hand, the FIA is also right." The problem, in fact, was that a marshal along the track took the initiative to wave double yellow, while it was not yet visible on Verstappen's steering wheel.

Penalties affect championship

"The marshals are the first to see it and they give the signal with the flags. Then it comes up to the control room and they pass it on to them on the steering wheel. You have to comply with that, but I don't really find it interesting to talk about it at all, because I think it's just nonsense. It's qualifying and there was no danger. If there was real danger, I would say 'yes,'" Albers explains.

That's why he's not happy with the penalty for Verstappen, who drove a good race despite it. "I just think it's a shame because it affects the championship quite a bit. We don't want that actually. We just want a fair fight between Max and Lewis. It's a bummer, but luckily Max did a fantastic job. He had another rocket start. He just did super well."