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Guanyu Zhou

Zhou slapped with Belgian GP penalty after Verstappen incident

The Stake F1 driver had qualified 20th at Spa but moves forward despite a grid penalty.

Zhou wet Qualifying Belgium
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To news overview © XPBimages

Zhou Guanyu has been hit with a three-place grid drop by Belgian Grand Prix stewards for impeding Max Verstappen in qualifying.

In a wet session at Spa, Zhou's Stake machine was slow through Blanchimont in Q1, and appeared to impede Verstappen, who, despite not going at full racing speed, was closing in.

The incident was noted and subsequently investigated by the stewards, who found that Zhou was told by the team of the Red Bull, but that the information was not given accurately enough, and that it was Zhou's responsibility to not impede Verstappen. 

As such, the three-place grid drop was handed out, which Zhou will not be actually serving. 

He qualified 20th and slowest of all, but Yuki Tsunoda is taking a 60-place grid drop for a power unit change, meaning Zhou is promoted to 19th. 

As such, his three-place grid drop keeps him 19th given the scale of Tsunoda's penalty, as Verstappen will start 11th following his own 10-place grid drop.

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