P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Max Verstappen has been penalised for impeding George Russell during qualifying for the Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix, handing pole position to the Mercedes driver.
Max Verstappen claimed his first pole position since the Austrian Grand Prix in June, but he had to give it up due to incurring a one-place grid penalty. Verstappen was summoned to the stewards after qualifying on pole to investigate a possible penalty for impeding George Russell during the session. The Stewards concluded that while Verstappen was indeed driving slower than usual to cool his tires, he did not comply with the Race Director’s Event Notes and was unnecessarily slow in a high-speed corner. George Russell had to take evasive action to avoid a collision with Verstappen, who mentioned that he was creating a gap as others were on slow laps, not push laps. Russell questioned whether the evasive action cost him a shot at pole, as Verstappen narrowly out-qualified him by 0.055s in Lusail. Despite the incident, Verstappen secured a surprise pole position in Qatar.
