Verstappen loses pole position after punishment: Russell takes the lead!

Verstappen loses pole position after punishment: Russell takes the lead!

Lusail, Katar - Max Verstappen has lost the pole position for the upcoming Grand Prix of Qatar after being punished for his slow driving during a cooling round. The Red Bull star had achieved the fastest time in the third qualifying section, but was convicted by the racing commissioners after a hearing for a one-place penalty. This means that George Russell, who took second place in Mercedes, will now start from the pole position. Russell commented concerns about the situation after he had to deal with the route due to the event of a slow drive and explained: "I had to drive through the gravel bed. I hope I didn't damage the underbody." This decision came just a few hours after qualifying, which is one of the most exciting moments of the season, such as Laola1 reported.

The stewards described the incident as complicated, since Verstappen was “unnecessarily slow” in the cooling round, which significantly influenced the course of qualifying. This is not the first time this season that Verstappen loses a pole position; Already at the Grand Prix of Belgium, he fell back to the rear places due to a drive unit, which led to Charles Leclerc from Ferrari awarded the pole. Verstappen himself had previously spoken very optimistically and praised that the team showed an excellent performance, although the developments in the sprint race were only moderate, such as The New York Times held.