Sao Paulo GP: Max Verstappen loses third in Sprint after penalty for Virtual Safety Car infringement at Interlagos

Max Verstappen has lost his third place in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix Sprint for a Virtual Safety Car infringement when racing Oscar Piastri.

Verstappen was driving too quickly when the late VSC ended during the last lap of a dramatic Sprint in Interlagos, won by Lando Norris, so has been given a five-second time penalty which drops him to fourth behind Charles Leclerc.

The Dutchman was also handed a penalty point, moving him onto seven out of the limit of 12 points on your super licence over a 12-month period.

It means Verstappen, who also has a five-grid place penalty for Sunday’s race due to a new engine, is now 44 points ahead of Norris in the Drivers’ Championship with four races, plus one Sprint, remaining in the 2024 season.

After the marshals moved Nico Hulkenberg’s car out of harm’s way, Verstappen was trying to pre-empt the green flag to get by Piastri as they battled for second, with both drivers accelerating down to Turn Four.

Just as the Virtual Safety Car fully ended, Verstappen braked and did not overtake Piastri but was under the delta when the race resumed under green flag conditions.

After hearing from Verstappen, a Red Bull team representative and looking at the telemetry and timing, the stewards said in a statement: “Article 56.5 states in part “All cars must also be above this minimum time when the FIA light panels change to green.” The driver was 0.63 seconds below the minimum time at VSC End when the FIA light panels changed to green.

“This indicates a sporting advantage gained under VSC. The driver explained that as he was awaiting VSC to end and he got the notification that he was below the minimum time, he attempted to correct the error but failed to do so by the point that the panels turned green.

“This is a breach and the standard penalty is applied for the advantage gained at that time.

“The net effect of this put the driver ahead of where he was at the start of the VSC and not as a result of the car in front falling back.”

What was Verstappen trying to do?

Sky Sports F1’s Bernie Collins immediately after Verstappen was noted for a VSC infringement:

“When we see the VSC is ending, so do the drivers. They don’t know exactly when it’s ending.

“They have to second guess in the cockpit. We know it’s between five and 10 seconds.

“They try to aim for zero on the dash when it ends. We saw him accelerate on the straight, trying to pre-empt the green light, but maybe he went too early.”

Sky Sports’ Nigel Chiu in Sao Paulo:

“Anyone who plays the F1 game will know when a VSC is ending, you want to be accelerating and getting your delta as close to zero as possible.

“But, when you’re doing that, it’s very easy to go under the delta and therefore receive a penalty.

“Imagine you’re driving a car. If you have to slow down, then accelerate when allowed to go flat out again, that will be slower than someone who has been accelerating for a few seconds and can keep their foot on the throttle pedal when you get back to green.”

Sky Sports F1’s live Sao Paulo GP schedule

Saturday November 2
5pm: Sao Paulo Qualifying build-up
6pm: Sao Paulo GP Qualifying
8pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook

Sunday November 3
3.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Sao Paulo GP build-up
5pm: THE SAO PAULO GRAND PRIX
7pm: Chequered Flag: Sao Paulo GP reaction
8pm: Ted’s Notebook

Formula 1’s Americas triple header concludes this weekend with the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, with every session live on Sky Sports F1. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership – No contract, cancel anytime