Max Verstappen has received a five-second time penalty and an additional penalty point following an incident during Saturday’s sprint race in Brazil.

The reigning world champion was investigated by the race stewards for a potential infringement under Virtual Safety Car (VSC) conditions, which were in place to allow safe recovery of Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas. 

While Verstappen was following McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, the Dutchman was several car lengths behind when the VSC began. Just before the VSC period ended, Verstappen suddenly sped up and pulled alongside Piastri.

Realizing he was too close, he backed off, leaving a gap again just as racing resumed. However, the FIA found that Verstappen was above the minimum time allowed under VSC rules as it ended.

As a result, the stewards handed Verstappen a five-second penalty, demoting him from third to fourth in the sprint race classification.

This penalty saw Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc move up to third, while Verstappen lost a valuable point in his championship lead over Lando Norris, which now stands at 44 points.

Verstappen also received a penalty point on his racing license, bringing his total to seven points in the past 12 months, with 12 being the point for a race ban, which was already given to Kevin Magnussen this year for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.