Hulkenberg: "It's understandable that Verstappen kept driving"

Nico Hulkenberg shows understanding for Max Verstappen and his situation during qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix. Verstappen drove at full speed during a yellow flag situation. At least, a marshal waved the yellow flag, but the race direction didn't see a real dangerous situation anymore.

Just before the start of Sunday's race, Verstappen was told of the penalty. The Red Bull Racing driver had to start from P7; a painful fact given the exciting title battle with Lewis Hamilton. Verstappen was able to effortlessly come back to P2 in the race, but Hamilton did damage in the standings.

The penalty caused frustration for the Austrian team. The reason was the lack of clarity regarding the yellow flag. Race control already deemed the yellow flag unnecessary, but the marshal on the spot waved it on his own initiative.

In the programme Sport und Talk im Hangar-7 on ServusTV, Hulkenberg expressed his admiration for Verstappen: "It shows humanity and greatness that Max went to the marshal afterwards and took a photo with him."

The German also expressed his understanding for the Dutchman's actions in qualifying: "It's understandable that Max went full throttle in qualifying. The car was on the right, the marshal on the left. That man had waved on his own initiative, even though the race control no longer issued a yellow flag."