Verstappen loses pole position for Qatar GP after grid penalty

Red Bull's Max Verstappen lost pole position for the Qatar Grand Prix after receiving a one-place grid penalty following a first-place finish in Saturday's qualifying.

The drivers' champion originally finished ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. Russell will begin in pole position for Sunday's race with Verstappen starting second.

Verstappen was given the penalty for driving too slow during Q3, which nearly caused a collision between him and Russell. The Mercedes driver described Verstappen's driving as "super dangerous" over team radio.

"Unusually, this incident occurred when neither car was on a push lap. Had Car 63 been on a push lap, the penalty would have most likely been the usual three-grid-position penalty," FIA stewards said, according to Autosport's Jon Noble.

"However, in mitigation of penalty, it was obvious that the driver of Car 63 had clear visibility of Car 1 and that neither car was on a push lap."

Red Bull and Ferrari are attempting to catch McLaren for the lead in the constructors' championship. McLaren holds a 30-point lead over Ferrari and sits 67 points ahead of Red Bull.

Mercedes is fourth in the constructor standings with 434 points.