Verstappen takes grid penalty for Q1 incident

Max Verstappen faced a premature exit from qualifying when his Toro Rosso ground to a halt on the exit of the hairpin at the end of Q1, leaving him 15th.

“Certainly not the best of days,” said the Dutchman after qualifying, “I had a sudden loss of power, all the electricity shut-down in the hairpin and from there on I couldn't do anything.

"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."

However, Verstappen is in for further pain as he has received a 3-place grid penalty for dangerous driving as he pulled over to the side of the track.

“Car 33 experienced a sudden power loss at the exit of turn 11," read the stewards’ report, "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. This caused double yellow flags to be shown and endangered oncoming drivers.”

He is the third driver to receive a penalty for this weekend. Nico Hulkenberg also has a 3-place grid penalty for causing a collision with Felipe Massa in Singapore, whereas Daniil Kvyat will be starting from the pit lane as Red Bull will be changing the Russian’s chassis after his crash at the end of Q3.

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