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FIA stewards strike again: Verstappen gets grid penalty in Qatar
- Jeroen Immink
Max Verstappen had to report to the stewards after he possibly hindered George Russell during Formula 1 qualifying in Qatar. This is the stewards' verdict on the incident between Red Bull Racing's four-time F1 world champion and the Mercedes driver.
Verstappen drove ahead of Russell in the final part of qualifying and allegedly hindered him in the process. Afterwards, Verstappen indicated that he wanted to create a gap with the cars in front of him and that there was actually nothing wrong with what he did. Russell, on the other hand, argued that Verstappen drove dangerously.
"I don't really know what I could have done differently. I don't really understand why I have to go to the stewards either. Then next time I will also drive full throttle everywhere and pretend to crash. Obviously that makes no sense at all," Verstappen said afterwards.
Verstappen gets a penalty from the stewards after all
Meanwhile, the stewards assessed the incident. Verstappen will lose his pole position to Russell after all and will have to start from second place. The FIA has ruled that the starting positions of the Dutchman and Russell will be swapped.
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