Verstappen hears verdict from stewards after incident in qualifying
- Nicole Mulder
The stewards investigated Max Verstappen for driving unnecessarily slow when exiting the pit lane. As a result, it was still unclear whether he would retain his pole position. The results of the investigation have since been announced: Verstappen will not get a penalty and will keep his pole position.
Verstappen took pole position convincingly at the Red Bull Ring. The Dutchman was a whopping 0.404 seconds faster than Lando Norris, who qualified second. With this, Verstappen grabbed his 40th pole position in his career.
However, there was uncertainty after qualifying whether Verstappen would retain his pole position. The Dutchman was said to have driven unnecessarily slow coming out of the pit lane during Q3. This would potentially jeopardise his pole position.
Verstappen not penalised for Austrian GP
Meanwhile, the incident has been assessed by the stewards. They have decided not to penalise Verstappen. As a result, he will retain his first starting position for Sunday's race. Should he win the race, it would mean he manages to win for the sixth time at the Red Bull Ring.