Official: Verstappen penalized three grid places at Suzuka
Immobilized in Q2 due to an electrical failure, Max Verstappen did not stop his Toro Rosso in a safe position and was consequently penalized by the race stewards. He will start in 18th position tomorrow.
Max Verstappen will certainly not have fond memories of his first qualifying session at the Suzuka temple. In Q2, the Dutchman, a victim of the reliability of his Toro Rosso (electrical problem), had to come to a halt on the track and therefore couldn’t set a time in the session.
Alas, a double penalty was inflicted on the Toro Rosso driver when he, guilty of not parking his car in a position off the track, subsequently caused double yellow flags. Consequently, the race stewards decided to award him a three-place grid penalty. Max Verstappen will thus start 18th instead of 15th, to the delight of the two Saubers of Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr.
His teammate, Carlos Sainz, who will start 12th, experienced fewer misadventures, yet still failed to make it into Q3. He didn’t have a particularly cheerful look after the session: « It’s disappointing to be out in Q2. It was really a day when we could easily make it into the top 10. However, during my second fast lap in Q2, I had some vibrations on the front tires. (…) It was challenging to adapt to the dry track. I only had 20 laps to learn the circuit. »
