Formula 1: Three hours later: Verstappen loses Qatar pole

Max Verstappen’s joy about his first pole position in almost half a year was gone long after midnight in Qatar. The old and new Formula 1 world champion was given a one-place penalty by the race stewards of the Grand Prix at the Lusail International Circuit. He has to leave the best starting position for the race this Sunday (5 p.m. CET/Sky) to George Russell from Mercedes. Verstappen, who beat Russell by 55 thousandths of a second, will start from second position.

Verstappen was unnecessarily slow

The ups and downs in the emirate continued for the four-time champion. After a disappointing sprint race on Saturday with eighth place, he raced to first place in the knockout for the penultimate race of the season – also to his own surprise. “What a turnaround,” Verstappen cheerfully radioed to the Red Bull command post: “Crazy, I didn’t expect that either.” The 27-year-old Dutchman achieved his last pole to date in Spielberg at the beginning of July.

The fact that it stayed that way was due to Verstappen’s driving behavior during a so-called cool-down lap in the crucial phase of qualifying. In the opinion of the race stewards, Verstappen was driving unnecessarily slowly.

There are no changes behind the front row due to the Verstappen penalty. Lando Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri are in third and fourth place on the grid. Charles Leclcerc and Carlos Sainz from McLaren’s pursuer Ferrari did not get past fifth and seventh place in qualifying – a clear disadvantage in the fight for the team title.

In the classification, McLaren leads Ferrari by 30 points – also thanks to the double success in the sprint race in Qatar. In the last of its kind this year over 100 kilometers, Norris let his teammate win in the last few meters as a thank you for his help in Brazil.

First and second place and the fastest race lap would bring another 44 points in the main race this Sunday, the same applies to the finale next Sunday in Abu Dhabi. This means: This is how many points – 44 – ahead McLaren needs if they win if the team wants to secure the constructors’ title early in Qatar. Without a win, 45 are needed because they are currently 5:5 after wins, but Ferrari are significantly less second has places. Defending champion Red Bull is third in the constructors’ championship, 67 points behind McLaren.

Pérez’s embarrassing moment in the pit lane

This is mainly due to Sergio Pérez, who came last in the sprint and caused a strange scene when he was surprised and overtaken by the Argentinian Williams driver right there when he started from the pit lane. Because nothing was working anyway, Red Bull made a few changes to the Mexican’s car during a pit stop, which initially paved the way for Verstappen to take pole in qualifying, before he only had to settle for second place.