Max Verstappen has had his pole position for the Mexican Grand Prix taken away from him after Formula 1 stewards penalized the Red Bull driver for ignoring the yellow flag that occurred during the final round of qualifying due to a crash from Valtteri Bottas, according to Formula1.com.
After reviewing the video and speaking with Verstappen, stewards stated that the driver "attempted to set a meaningful lap time and failed to reduce his speed in the relevant marshaling sector."
Charles Leclerc will start in P1 for the Mexican Grand Prix, having posted Saturday's second-best time at qualifying, while Verstappen's three-spot penalty will have the Dutchman starting at P4.
The entire provisional grid is now as follows, with Bottas potentially also incurring a penalty for his last-minute crash.
Pos. | Driver | Team |
---|---|---|
1 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari |
2 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari |
3 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes |
4 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull |
5 | Alexander Albon | Red Bull |
6 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes |
7 | Carlos Sainz | McLaren |
8 | Lando Norris | McLaren |
9 | DaniIl Kvyat | Toro Rosso |
10 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso |
11 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point |
12 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault |
13 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault |
14 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo |
15 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo |
16 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point |
17 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas |
18 | Romain Grosjean | Haas |
19 | George Russell | Williams |
20 | Robert Kubica | Williams |
Verstappen had already posted a track record of 1:14.758 prior to Bottas' accident, so the costly failure to yield under caution flags was entirely needless.
"It is very disappointing to be handed a grid penalty for the race," Verstappen said. However, the 22-year-old admitted he was aware of Bottas' crash and that he didn't reduce his speed in the sector.