Max Verstappen and his amazing attention to detail: how Red Bull driver’s observation led to Lando Norris penalty. Max Verstappen explains the “report” that led to Norris' penalty in Qatar.

The 30th lap of the Qatar GP had just begun when, suddenly, the marshals waved a double yellow flag: Verstappen lifted his foot to avoid a penalty, but Lando Norris didn’t, and the Dutch driver immediately noticed. After the race, the four-time world champion explained what lies behind his now customary obsessive attention to detail.

This is not the first time Max Verstappen has stood out for his exceptional focus on what’s happening around him. A recent example before Losail was in Interlagos: during that Brazilian event, Max was among the few to show an excellent knowledge of the rules, reacting correctly to the cancellation of the start procedure, unlike some of his fellow drivers around his Red Bull.

Max Verstappen, the obsession with detail: double incident in Qatar
In Qatar, the incident was even double: at the start of lap 30, Max Verstappen was leading the race. Behind him, about two seconds behind, was Lando Norris, the McLaren driver leading the Constructors’ Championship. Verstappen was the first to encounter the double yellow flag: Max noticed it immediately, even when the lights were still off, and lifted his foot just enough to avoid any potential investigation. What caught the attention of the Hasselt-born driver was simply the waving of the marshals at the trackside. No lights, no team radio from Lambiase.

The lights turned yellow a fraction of a second after Max Verstappen passed, visible from Lando Norris’ onboard camera. The Brit was not as attentive as his colleague and kept his foot down, firmly on the accelerator. Verstappen also noticed this and promptly reported it to the pit wall and race control. The rest is history.

Verstappen: “That’s how the report on Norris came about”
In the post-race conference, the 1997-born Dutchman explained how the report on Norris’ infraction came about, which went unnoticed by most during the live broadcast. “I lifted my foot because I saw the double yellow flag,” the world champion explained. “I obviously know that if I hadn’t lifted my foot, I would’ve been under investigation.”

The report on Norris came from a simple intuition: “I asked if Lando had actually lifted his foot because, once we came out of Turn 1, I noticed he was much closer than before.”

“I just asked the pit wall to check what happened. I mean, it was just a simple question, and I know, of course, that with double yellow flags, the marshals are pretty strict,” Verstappen concluded.