Max Verstappen has received a five-second penalty for breaching Virtual Safety Car (VSC) regulations during the São Paulo Grand Prix sprint race.
This penalty moves Verstappen from his third-place finish on the road down to fourth, placing him behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
As a result, the Red Bull driver loses another point to title contender Lando Norris, who claimed the sprint win after McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri was instructed to let him through.
Verstappen’s now lead over Norris now stands at 44 points, with four grands prix and one sprint race remaining in the season.
Additionally, Verstappen will incur a five-place grid drop in Sunday’s main event due to an engine change, and a penalty point has been added to his license.
The stewards’ report stated, “Article 56.5 states in part ‘All cars must also be above this minimum time when the FIA light panels change to green.’ The driver was 0.63 seconds below the minimum time at VSC End when the FIA light panels changed to green.”
According to the report, this indicated “a sporting advantage gained under VSC.” Verstappen explained that he attempted to correct his speed after receiving a notification that he was below the minimum time as he waited for the VSC to end, but was unable to do so before the panels turned green.
“This is a breach and the standard penalty is applied for the advantage gained at that time,” the report continued.
The report concluded that the penalty “put the driver ahead of where he was at the start of the VSC and not as a result of the car in front falling back.