Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has given his take on Max Verstappen's alleged qualifying transgression at the Qatar Grand Prix, describing the situation as a "triple whammy". Verstappen will be paying a visit to the stewards for allegedly failing to slow for double waved yellow flags, which came out at the end of Q3 for Pierre Gasly's stricken Alpha Tauri, which had picked up a puncture. The Dutchman improved on his final flying lap to secure second on the grid for Sunday's race, splitting Mercedes pair Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.
"It's a bit of a triple whammy"
Wolff was asked for his view on the situation after qualifying, making reference to the light panels, waved yellow flags and Gasly's car. He also pointed to last year's Austrian Grand Prix, where Hamilton initially went unpunished for a yellow flag breach, before Red Bull submitted video footage to the stewards to prove that he had driven past a signal and failed to slow sufficiently, resulting in a grid penalty. "I've just seen it," Wolff said of the Verstappen incident, in conversation with media, including RacingNews365.com . "I think [it was] a flashing yellow light on the left, and then these passing the double waved yellow, and there is a standing car on the road, so I guess it's a bit of a triple whammy. "They've [Red Bull] gone after us with a yellow flag with [Alex] Albon, I believe it was - [for] passing a yellow flag on the outside."
"It's in the stewards' hands"
However, Wolff refused to be drawn into what kind of penalty, if any, Verstappen should receive for the Grand Prix. "It's in the stewards' hands," Wolff went on to comment. "I wouldn't want to comment much more on what should happen or must happen, or what was… I think the stewards are looking at it and they need to come up with a verdict." Wolff has stated that first and third was his preferred qualifying result at the Losail International Circuit, given that Verstappen is currently set to start on the dirty side of the grid.
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