Max Verstappen receives a penalty from the stewards for the Singapore-related incidents that caused delays.

Following Max Verstappen’s disastrous qualifying performance in Singapore, the three separate investigations into the Dutch driver have concluded, and the stewards have announced their findings.

Along with failing to qualify for Q3 at Marina Bay for the first time this season, Max Verstappen’s evening was made more difficult by three different incidents of alleged impeding.

The Dutch driver was called before the stewards for blocking Logan Sargeant of Williams, blocking Yuki Tsunoda of AlphaTauri, and impeding a train of cars in the pitlane upon exit.

Stewards issue their conclusions regarding the three Max Verstappen blocking investigations.

The stewards issued the reigning World Champion his first warning of the year for the pitlane blocking incident, in which Verstappen had stopped at the green light to hold up several drivers behind him, including both Mercedes drivers and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

The decision stated that the Stewards “heard from the driver of Max Verstappen, team representative, and reviewed positioning/marshaling system data, video, timing, and team radio.”.

“[Verstappen] claimed that he waited (roughly 14 seconds) to exit the pit lane in order to leave a space between himself and the vehicles in front.

The team representative explained that his lead was eliminated by Turn 5 as a result of slower traffic on the out lap, while the car behind Verstappen had widened its lead to 12 seconds.

“While the driver did not clearly benefit from waiting at the Pit Exit for what was considered to be an excessively long period of time, the potential harm to other drivers makes a penalty warranted.

“While it is acknowledged that the car in front could have passed [Verstappen], it is preferable for vehicles to leave the pit exit in a timely manner.

“The stewards find that [Verstappen] violated Article 37.5 of the Sporting Regulations, and as a result, a Reprimand is the proper sanction.
“.

In one evening, Max Verstappen receives two warnings.

Verstappen received his second season-ending warning for blocking Yuki Tsunoda in Q2, and Red Bull was fined €5000 for failing to alert Verstappen to Tsunoda’s approach.

The stewards stated, “Just as [Tsunoda] passed [Verstappen], [Verstappen] saw the car behind approaching and moved to the left, but quite late.”.

“The team acknowledged that there was poor communication on its end and that it did not inform its driver until [Tsunoda] was alongside.

“The Stewards reviewed a number of impeding and alleged impeding incidents from this current season and consistent with prior decisions in relation to the severity of the breach, impose a penalty of a Reprimand on the driver and a fine on the Competitor.

“It was noted that the representative of Car 22 opted not to attend the Hearing.
“.

The stewards decided against punishing Verstappen for allegedly blocking Sargeant, and Sargeant supported the Dutch driver during the stewards’ hearing.

The FIA decision reads, “[Verstappen] stated that he was surrounded by many other cars on the practice laps, some of which chose to overtake him on the left and some on the right, and that he thus decided the safest option was for him to drive straight and keep the line, leaving a car width on his right.”.

He admitted that he believed that any movement to the left or right could have led to a collision with one of the cars nearby.
These claims are acknowledged by the Stewards.

“[Sargeant] said there was room for [Verstappen] to pass and that he didn’t think [Verstappen] was at fault.
Thus, we conclude that [Verstappen] did not unnecessarily obstruct [Sargeant].
“.