Max Verstappen braced for more penalties

Max Verstappen's weekend at the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix has not gone as many had expected.

Max Verstappen endured a qualifying to forget at the Singapore Grand Prix, although it’s not yet over for the Red Bull driver, who has been summoned to the stewards three times.

The Dutchman was eliminated in Q2 for the just the second time this season, following a miserable session at the Marina Bay Circuit.

Red Bull have struggled throughout the weekend in Singapore, with the outfit’s 15-race winning streak looking all but certain to end.

Verstappen in particular requires a miracle to extend his record-breaking winning streak to 11 races, given that he’s provisionally starting from P11.

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The 25-year-old was on the brink in P10, only for AlphaTauri’s stand-in driver Liam Lawson to dump the Red Bull star out of the session.

When Verstappen discovered that he’d been eliminated, he immediately said over the team radio that the session was “an absolutely shocking experience”.

Things don’t look set to get any better for Verstappen, who is being investigated by the stewards in three separate incidents.

All three incidents are for impeding other drivers, in what was a qualifying full of complaints regarding slow-moving cars.

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The first of three incidents came whilst attempting to exit the pits in Q1, where Verstappen sat stationary at the end of the pit-lane for several seconds.

In doing so, he held up the likes of Charles Leclerc and George Russell, who both complained about the Dutchman.

A couple of minutes later after Verstappen had finally exited the pits, he was seen potentially impeding again, this time in the final sector.

There was a huge traffic jam in the final sector at the end of Q1; however, Verstappen was crucially cruising on the racing line.

The third impeding incident Verstappen is being investigated for occurred in Q2, where he was again seen cruising on the racing line.

He got in the way of Yuki Tsunoda who was on a push lap, much to the Japanese driver’s anger.

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Verstappen has been called to see the stewards at 11.00pm, 11.05pm and 11.10pm local time, with the expectation being that he could receive a punishment.

In the past, drivers have often received a three-place grid penalty for impeding another driver.

By this logic, if Verstappen is found guilty of impeding in each incident, then it would suggest a nine-place grid penalty would be slapped upon the two-time World Champion.