"Max Verstappen Slips to 4th Place in Sao Paulo Sprint Following Latest Penalty"
A fine for breaking virtual safety car rules caused Max Verstappen to drop from third to fourth place in the Sprint at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix on Saturday.
The 27-year-old Verstappen now has a 44-point lead over fellow title contender Lando Norris in the championship standings, with four more races left on the schedule.
As a result of the penalty, Charles Leclerc finished third in the final standings of the sprint race in Brazil. Norris took first place after swapping positions with his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri, who had been leading with two laps remaining and ended up in second.
With Nico Hulkenberg's car stopped on the track towards the end of the race, the virtual safety car was deployed to clear the Haas car. McLaren then switched their drivers, putting Norris in the lead. Verstappen was close behind Piastri and had informed his Red Bull team that Piastri might fall far enough behind Norris, making him unable to defend against Verstappen's attempt to take the lead.
When the race resumed for the final lap, it was determined that Verstappen had violated the minimum required time and was given a five-second penalty.
"The decision of the stewards states that, according to Article 56.5, 'All cars must also be above this minimum time when the FIA light panels change to green,'" the statement read. "The driver was 0.63 seconds below the minimum time at the end of the virtual safety car period when the FIA light panels changed to green. This indicates that a sporting advantage was gained during the virtual safety car period.
"The driver explained that he received a notification that he was below the minimum time while waiting for the virtual safety car to end. He attempted to correct the error, but was unable to do so before the panels turned green. This is a violation and the standard penalty is applied for the advantage gained during that time."
This penalty point brings Verstappen's total to five, leaving him just five points away from an automatic one-race suspension. He has accumulated seven penalty points in the last 12 months.
For using an extra power unit component, Verstappen has also been given a grid penalty and will start five places back in Sunday's Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
