Max Verstappen reacts to Lando Norris’ penalty in Qatar: “Stewards are strict with double yellow flags”. Max Verstappen shared his perspective on the decisive episode in Qatar.

Nothing escapes the Dutchman
After about twenty laps of the Qatar Grand Prix with the gap fluctuating between 1.9 and 1.6 seconds, Max Verstappen couldn’t help but notice that suddenly Lando Norris was nearly within DRS range. The four-time world champion had led the pack from the first corner, overtaking George Russell at the start, a moment in which Norris also took advantage of the battle between the two front-row starters to put pressure on Verstappen from Turn 2 to Turn 4.

Then began the long back-and-forth between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, a duel that became close again after the switch to hard tires, particularly during the first restart. Verstappen struggled to get a good launch out of the final corner: “The hard tires are not easy to bring up to temperature, and the Safety Car certainly didn’t help in that process,” Verstappen explained in the press conference. “I tried something different for the restart, but I had no traction exiting the last corner and had to defend on the straight and under braking.”

Then came the stop-and-go penalty for Lando Norris for failing to respect the double yellow flags, a penalty effectively flagged by Max Verstappen, who noticed that the McLaren #4 had suddenly closed the gap significantly after the incident: “I saw the double yellow flags and lifted my foot because I know well that not doing so immediately leads to being investigated. I asked if he had lifted his foot because he had the DRS of a lapped car, and by the exit of Turn 1, I found him much closer. It was a normal question on my part. With double yellow flags, the stewards are quite strict.”