The incident carried out by Pierre Gasly caused the double yellow flag that could end with several penalties for the race this Sunday at the Qatari circuit of Losail.
You could see it coming and that’s how it happened: the double yellow flag caused by Pierre Gasly in the final moments of Q3 of the Qatar Grand Prix has led to several investigations being opened to drivers who did not slow down on the last corner of the circuit.
The French driver stepped on the piano of the penultimate corner with excessive violence and that caused the breakage of his front wing, which even punctured the right front wheel. The one from AlphaTauri kept rolling to the finish straight and, although riders like Fernando Alonso (who commented on this event to the press) and Sebastian vettel they slowed down and aborted their return, others did not, despite the stewards waving the yellow flag.
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It is the case of Max Verstappen, Valtteri Bottas and Carlos Sainz, which have been summoned by the commissioners for Sunday from 1:00 p.m., two hours less in mainland Spain.
Although all the pilots will be investigated as a result of the same event, in the case of Max Verstappen the sanction could be greater, since he is the only one who did not respect the double yellow flags, while when the others passed through the area, the indication was only a yellow flag.
At the beginning of the appearances four hours before the start of the raceIt is to be expected that the final grid configuration will not be known until a few minutes before departure. On other occasions, similar infractions have been sanctioned with 3 or 5 grid positions.
Serious implications for the championship
While the Dutch Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen finished qualifying in second place, Valtteri Bottas followed with his Mercedes.
For his part, Carlos Sainz achieved a seventh position that, if not confirmed, could allow Mclaren reclaim some ground in the constructors’ championship standings in which both teams compete for third place.
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At this time, Ferrari leads McLaren by 21.5 points with three races to go. If there are no penalties, Lando Norris will start sixth, Charles Leclerc 13th and Daniel Ricciardo 14th.
Regarding the drivers’ title, a hypothetical sanction to Max Verstappen could leave the leadership within reach of Lewis Hamilton, who already in the previous race knew how to overcome a disqualification to end up winning the race.