“I don’t expect any presents from the stewards”: Max Verstappen says he was not surprised to be awarded a 5-place grid penalty at the Qatar GP

Max Verstappen admitted that being awarded a 5 place grid penalty at of the Qatar GP did not surprise him at all. 

Verstappen put in a decent performance in Saturday’s qualifying and was set to start the race from P2.  However, he was given a 5 place grid penalty before the race started. This happened after the the stewards investigated the Dutchman for ‘failing to slow down under double waved yellow flags’.

As a result, Verstappen had to start the race from 7th, but quickly moved up the grid to jump to 4th place at the end of turn 2. He ended up finishing 2nd behind title rival Lewis Hamilton.

When asked about his grid penalty post race, Verstappen said he was not at all surprised by the outcome.

“I knew already last night that I never get presents from them the stewards. So it’s okay.” Verstappen said.

“Once I knew I was starting seventh, I was just very motivated to move ahead, and that’s exactly what we did. We had a good first lap and then after five laps we were second again.

Also read: Red Bull blames the light panel on the track for Max Verstappen’s 5-place grid penalty in maiden Qatar GP

Max Verstappen feels that Red Bull were too slow

Verstappen will be happy that he finished 2nd in spite of starting from P7. However, the pace of his Red Bull was not good enough to challenge the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton. In the end, it was a pretty comfortable drive for the Briton.

“I just tried keep the gap small, which we did throughout the whole race, so they couldn’t do an extra stop. It gave me the fastest lap at the end, so I was definitely happy with that.” said Max.

“We were a little bit too slow. So of course, that means the race is going to be tricky as well,” he commented.

“But we just need to try and stay focused. There are two races to go and as you can see, a lot of things can happen, even in qualifying. So anything is possible.”

Hamilton winning in Qatar means that Verstappen’s lead is down to just 8 points. With two races to go in 2o21, Red Bull and Max have a lot of work on their hands to defend their slender lead at the summit.

Also read: Christian Horner apologizes for inappropriate behaviour which almost brought wrath of stewards