FIA confirms new PENALTY after Max Verstappen incident at Belgian Grand Prix

The FIA ​​​​has confirmed that a penalty will be imposed following an incident involving Max Verstappen and Zhou Guanyu at Spa.

For Verstappen, the weekend at the Belgian Grand Prix began with the news that he would have to be demoted ten places for Sunday’s race because he had exceeded the maximum speed permitted for the combustion engine.

READ MORE: Results of the qualification for the F1 Grand Prix of Belgium: Ferrari snatches the Belgian pole from the dominant Verstappen

Despite this setback, the Dutchman was in top form in qualifying and set the fastest time. However, due to the penalty, he will start the race from P11.

Qualifying also did not go smoothly for Verstappen as he was involved in an incident in Q1.

FIA imposes penalty on Zhou Guanyu

Verstappen came through Turn 17 in the closing stages of Q1, where he met Zhou, who was driving slowly on the racing line.

The Dutchman appeared to be furious over the team radio and the Sauber driver was investigated for obstructing the vehicle in wet conditions.

“I was told he was in phase with me… but in the end he was on a flying lap, so yeah, easy,” Zhou told the media, including GPF fans, after qualifying.

“They said he was in phase, but he was on a flying lap.”

READ MORE: Weather forecast for the Belgian F1 Grand Prix – today’s latest from Stavelot

The FIA ​​​​has since confirmed that Zhou will receive a three-place grid penalty for impeding Verstappen and has breached Article 37.5 of the regulations.

According to race control, the team informed Zhou about Verstappen, but their information was “not accurate enough”.

Nevertheless, they believed that it was the Sauber driver’s responsibility not to “unnecessarily hinder” others, and in their opinion Zhou did so.

Zhou set the slowest time of the session, but his position improved to 19th thanks to Yuki Tsunoda, who will start last due to his 60th place move.

The new penalty drops the Chinese driver from 19th place to … still 19th place, as three is a smaller number than 60.

READ MORE: “Extraordinary” meeting called as FIA announces decision to change points

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