02/11/2024
NEWS STORY
Max Verstappen has been handed a 5s post-Sprint penalty for exceeding the minimum time at the end of the VSC period.
Article 56.5 of the Sporting Regulations states in part "All cars must also be above this minimum time when the FIA light panels change to green", however, according to telemetry Verstappen was 0.63 seconds below the minimum time at VSC End when the light panels changed to green.
This , according to the stewards, indicates a sporting advantage gained under VSC.
Verstappen 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 Dutchman driver ahead of where he was at the start of the VSC and not as a result of the car in front falling back.
As a result Verstappen was handed a 5s penalty which drops him to fourth behind race-winner Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc.
Even before the stewards came to their decision, fans had taken to social media asking why the VSC wasn't deployed earlier - after Hulkenberg had pulled off track - after Piastri had allowed his McLaren teammate through to take the lead, and then withdrawn after the second DRS zone making Verstappen's task of passing the Australian that much harder.