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Formula 1 world championship leader Max Verstappen has dropped from third to fourth place in the Brazilian Grand Prix sprint race results due to a penalty for a virtual safety car infringement.
Verstappen gained on Oscar Piastri's second-placed McLaren as the VSC for Nico Hulkenberg's parked Haas ended in the closing moments of the Interlagos race, but backed out of any attempt to pass it despite nosing partly alongside just before the green light for racing to resume.
A potential VSC infraction was immediately noted and referred to the stewards, who ruled two hours after the race finish that Verstappen had exceeded the permitted delta time at that point by 0.63 seconds.
That resulted in a five-second penalty that drops him back behind Charles Leclerc's Ferrari - which he had overtaken mid-race - to fourth in the sprint results.
That is only a one-point change of score so makes minimal difference to the championship situation, in which Lando Norris is now 44 points behind having won the Brazil sprint after team-mate Piastri moved aside to hand him the victory.
Although Verstappen and Red Bull team principal Christian Horner had both indicated after the sprint that they felt no infraction had been committed, the stewards report revealed that Verstappen had been notified that he hadn't kept to the minimum time and was trying to put that right when the VSC ended.
"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," said the stewards' notice.
Verstappen also received one penalty point on his licence for the infringement, which takes his tally to seven out of the 12 permitted in a 12-month period before triggering a ban.
But two of those points will expire after this weekend's Interlagos event, as they were incurred for an incident with Leclerc in the 2023 Las Vegas race.
Though McLaren took a 1-2 on the grid and in the race in the sprint, Verstappen's race pace in their wake was encouraging.
But he goes into the upcoming grand prix qualifying session already facing a disadvantage as he has incurred a five-place grid penalty for taking an additional engine following recent reliability blows.
