Verstappen penalised after Q1 stoppage
26 September 2015 – Max Verstappen has been handed a three-place grid penalty for the Japanese Grand Prix after stewards concluded that he left his Toro Rosso in a dangerous position when he stopped in qualifying.
Verstappen suffered a loss of power and stopped his STR10 on the exit of the hairpin during the opening Q1 phase at Suzuka, to which the stewards took a dim view.
"Car 33 [Verstappen] experienced a sudden power loss at the exit of Turn 11, the driver initially moved to the left side of the track towards a safe position and when it was about to stop, moved to the right onto the racing line, where it eventually stopped," read a statement from the stewards.
"This caused double yellow flags to be shown and endangered oncoming drivers."
"I had a sudden loss of power, all the electricity shut down in the hairpin and from there on I couldn't do anything," explained Verstappen.
"It's very frustrating, because the car was going very well, but in the end it is what it is… we might be on the back foot again before the race, but we never give up."
