Verstappen punished by stewards after Sochi qualifying

Max Verstappen was handed a three-place grid penalty and two penalty points on his super licence after ignoring yellow flags during qualifying for the Russian Grand Prix. The Red Bull driver's grid drop is largely immaterial as he was already due to start from the back to a change of power unit and gearbox.

Verstappen was found to have not slowed down sufficiently after Sergey Sirotkin spun in Q1, which brought out yellow flags at the end of the session.

A three-place grid penalty takes Verstappen's total grid drops to 43, although he will start on the back row, alongside Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.

Verstappen now has seven penalty points on his licence over a 12-month period, if drivers accrue 12 points over a year they must serve a one-race ban.

The stewards report read: "The driver admitted seeing the yellow flag and stated that he steered to the left to avoid the stationary car (number 35). However, the regulation is very clear and states 'It must be evident that a driver has reduced speed'. The telemetry showed that the driver maintained full throttle and did not apply any braking.

"In his defence, the driver expressed the view that he felt he had acted safely.

"The stewards noted that the driver understood the error in not slowing and acknowledged that in future he will comply with the regulations."

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