Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz were both called to the stewards in the aftermath of Friday’s qualifying session for the Qatar Grand Prix. The pair were involved in an on-track incident during Q2.
Verstappen was attempting to find a way around Sainz’s Ferrari with car No.55 moving slowly on the racing line, forcing Verstappen to dip two wheels off the track in avoidance.
Coming onto the radio to complain, Verstappen said: “What is he doing, man? He’s defending! Did you see that? I almost crashed into him.”
As a result of the incident, Sainz and Verstappen were both summoned to the stewards’ room to give their view of the events with the Spaniard facing a possible penalty for “driving erratically.”
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Unfortunately for Sainz, this incident summed up his session. Two minutes after impeding Verstappen the 28-year-old was eliminated from qualifying in Q2 along with Red Bull driver Sergio Perez.
Verstappen, meanwhile, was unaffected. The 26-year-old made it through Q2 with no issues before dominating the rest of the field in Q3, securing his pole position with his banker lap as his rivals failed to lay a glove on his initial time.ย
Speaking about his qualifying efforts, Verstappen said: “Great start to the weekend. It’s quite tricky out there with the new tarmac. It still needs to rubber in. Very peaky grip. As soon as you overpush, the rear steps out.
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“Of course very happy to be on pole, it’s been a good day for us. I want to win on Sunday. We put it on pole and naturally, you want to win the race but let’s make sure tomorrow we have a good day.
“I think the car is quick. Tomorrow it’s going to be a bit more difficult to get the tyres ready to work well with the tyres. It’s a great start to the weekend and the car is working well. That’s all I can hope for really.”
Verstappen heads into Saturday’s sessions knowing that a sixth-place finish in the sprint race will be enough to seal his third consecutive World Championship.
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