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Charles Leclerc moves onto Mexican GP pole with Verstappen down to fourth for yellow-flag infringement; Lewis Hamilton up into third on grid
By James Galloway in Mexico City
Last Updated: 27/10/19 12:24am
0:23 Max Verstappen has been relegated from first to fourth on the Mexican GP grid, with Charles Leclerc inheriting pole position for Ferrari.
Verstappen was handed the three-place penalty for falling to slow for yellow flags when Valtteri Bottas crashed at the end of Q3.
Leclerc will now head Sebastian Vettel on an all-Ferrari front row on Sunday’s grid, with championship-chasing Lewis Hamilton up to third place ahead of the demoted Verstappen.
In a ruling issued nearly four hours after the end of qualifying, stewards said that data and video evidence “clearly showed that the driver attempted to set a meaningful lap time and failed to reduce his speed” at the relevant point of the track.
1:43 Verstappen told stewards that while he had seen the crashed Mercedes at the outside of the final corner, he was “not aware of the waved yellow flag”. The Dutchman also confirmed he had not reduced his speed.
However, stewards disagreed, stating that the Red Bull had sufficient warning to slow down – and citied the fact Vettel did so behind.
“The Stewards noted from the on board images of Car 33, that the waved yellow flag was clearly visible and was shown with enough notice. The previous driver (Car 5) reduced the speed significaly as per the regulations.”
Verstappen also had two penalty points added to his race licence, doubling his tally.
Mexican GP provisional grid: Revised top 10
1. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari
3. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
4. Max Verstappen, Red Bull
5. Alex Albon, Red Bull
6. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes
7. Carlos Sainz, McLaren
8. Lando Norris, McLaren
9. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso
10. Pierre Gasly, Toro Rosso
Did Verstappen land himself in hot water?
Although a formal investigation into Verstappen’s yellow-flag transgression was not initially launched after qualifying, the yellow-flag incident gained further traction after Dutchman told reporters in the official post-qualifying press conference that he had not backed off for Bottas’ accident.
Q: Can you explain whether you backed off, if you were aware of it or you saw the yellow flags coming into that corner?
Verstappen: “I was aware that Valtteri crashed.”
Q: Did you back off?
Verstappen: “Didn’t really look like it, did it? No.”
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