The starting grid for the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix has changed after Max Verstappen was handed a one-place grid penalty for impeding George Russell, losing his pole position.

Verstappen was on an additional warm-up lap in Q3 and was notably slower than his competitors. As Russell approached behind him, the Red Bull driver inadvertently impeded Russell’s progress, particularly between Turns 12 and 14. The stewards examined the incident closely, considering telemetry, video, team radio, and other data before arriving at their verdict.

In their official statement, the stewards noted the complexity of the situation, saying:

“The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 1 (Max Verstappen), the driver of Car 63 (George Russell), team representatives and reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video, timing, telemetry, team radio and in-car video evidence.

“Car 1 was on a different preparation strategy to that of Car 63. Car 1 was well outside of the delta and the driver of Car 1 explained he had let Cars 4 and 14 past. The driver of Car 63 claimed that he had adhered to the delta and did not expect Car 1 to be on the racing line. He stated that if a car was going slow in a high-speed corner, it should not be on the racing line.

“The Stewards regard this case as a complicated one in that clearly Car 1 did not comply with the Race Director’s Event Notes and clearly was driving, in our determination, unnecessarily slowly considering the circumstances.”

The Stewards also confirmed that although this would usually result in a three-place grid penalty, as both drivers were not on push laps, it would just be one grid place. They added:

“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 3 grid position penalty, 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.”

The starting grid now features George Russell in pole position, followed by Verstappen, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, and Charles Leclerc in the top five.

1. George Russell
2. Max Verstappen
3. Lando Norris
4. Oscar Piastri
5. Charles Leclerc
6. Lewis Hamilton
7. Carlos Sainz
8. Fernando Alonso
9. Sergio Perez
10. Kevin Magnussen
11. Pierre Gasly
12. Zhou Guanyu
13. Valtteri Bottas
14. Yuki Tsunoda
15. Lance Stroll
16. Alex Albon
17. Liam Lawson
18. Nico Hulkenberg
19. Franco Colapinto
20. Esteban Ocon