The stewards dished out a penalty just seconds after the conclusion of the Qatar Grand Prix Sprint, changing the outcome of the short-form race. Oscar Piastri won from pole with an accomplished performance as the top three remained unchanged, George Russell holding onto second place ahead of Lando Norris in the other McLaren.
There was some movement further back, though, with Max Verstappen rising two places to finish fourth. He was ahead of Kimi Antonelli, who had risen to fifth place because of a five-second penalty for Yuki Tsunoda who violated track limits too many times, but shortly after the end of the race it was confirmed that a similar punishment was also heading the way of the Mercedes driver.
Antonelli, it turned out, had also taken one trip too many across the painted white lines that define the edge of the track. His last violation occurred on the final lap of the race and cost him a point in the end, dropping from fifth back down below Tsunoda to sixth in the final classification as a result of the punishment.
Confirmind that penalty, the stewards said: “Car 12 [Antonelli] exceeded track limits on three occasions and was given the black and white flag, then exceeded track limits a fourth time. Therefore, in accordance with the guidelines, a five-second penalty is imposed.”
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