Max Verstappen has been handed a five-second time penalty for a Virtual Safety Car breach in the Formula 1 Sprint at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
As the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) came to an end on the final lap of the Brazil-based Sprint, Verstappen almost poached second place from McLaren’s Oscar Piastri at Turn 4.
Piastri held Verstappen at bay and the Dutchman crossed the chequered flag in third place at Interlagos.
However, he was immediately put under investigation and the stewards found Verstappen guilty of being 0.63s below the minimum VSC time.
“The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 1 (Max Verstappen), team representative and reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, timing, telemetry evidence,” the verdict read.
“Article 56.5 states in part ‘All cars must also be above this minimum time when the FIA light panels change to green.’
“The driver was 0.63 seconds below the minimum time at VSC End when the FIA light panels changed to green. This indicates a sporting advantage gained under VSC.
“The driver explained that as he was awaiting VSC to end and he got the notification that he was below the minimum time, he attempted to correct the error but failed to do so by the point that the panels turned green.
“This is a breach and the standard penalty is applied for the advantage gained at that time.
“The net effect of this put the driver ahead of where he was at the start of the VSC and not as a result of the car in front falling back.”
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A five-second penalty has demoted Verstappen from third to fourth and the Red Bull driver now holds a 44-point lead in the Drivers’ standings.
Explaining where things could have gone awry, Verstappen said post-race that it “got tight” as the VSC came to an end.
“We were just getting close to each other, then we had to brake. I must have been close with Oscar.”
Verstappen also incurred one penalty point, taking him to seven of the permitted 12 in 12 months.
A five-place grid penalty for Sunday’s GP compounds Verstappen’s issues in Brazil.
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