All but three of the F1 field is under investigation by the Qatar Grand Prix stewards during sprint qualifying. 17 of the championship's 20 drivers have been referred to the FIA officials for failing to follow the race director's instructions. The issue is pertaining to honouring the maximum delta time, something that is often an problem during qualifying sessions. In short: during cool-down laps, drivers try and drive as slowly as possible to best preserve their tyres. However, they are obligated to keep their lap times under a set marker, something that appears not to have happened at the Lusail International Circuit. The drivers under investigation are: Kevin Magnussen, Lance Stroll, Valtteri Bottas, Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc, Alexander Albon, Max Verstappen, Pierre Gasly, Sergio Perez, Lando Norris, Liam Lawson, Oscar Piastri, George Russell, Yuki Tsunoda, Franco Colapinto, Lewis Hamilton and Zhou Guanyu. Therefore, only Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg will not be looked into for the infringement. Those incidents all occurred during SQ1 before seven of the original 17 picked up a second potential infringement. The drivers on two are: Lawson, Stroll, Albon, Piastri, Leclerc, Russell and Hamilton.
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