JUST IN: Max Verstappen loses third in the Sprint during the Sao Paulo Grand Prix after being penalized for violating the Virtual Safety Car rule at Interlagos

Verstappen was driving too quickly when the late VSC ended during the last lap of a dramatic Sprint in Interlagos, won by Lando Norris, so has been given a five-second time penalty which drops him to fourth behind Charles Leclerc.

The Dutchman was also handed a penalty point, moving him onto seven out of the limit of 12 points on your super licence over a 12-month period.

It means Verstappen, who also has a five-grid place penalty for Sunday’s race due to a new engine, is now 44 points ahead of Norris in the Drivers’ Championship with four races, plus one Sprint, remaining in the 2024 season.

After the marshals moved Nico Hulkenberg’s car out of harm’s way, Verstappen was trying to pre-empt the green flag to get by Piastri as they battled for second, with both drivers accelerating down to Turn Four.

Just as the Virtual Safety Car fully ended, Verstappen braked and did not overtake Piastri but was under the delta when the race resumed under green flag conditions.

After hearing from Verstappen, a Red Bull team representative and looking at the telemetry and timing, the stewards said in a statement: “Article 56.5 states in part “All cars must also be above this minimum time when the FIA light panels change to green.” The driver was 0.63 seconds below the minimum time at VSC End when the FIA light panels changed to green.

“This indicates a sporting advantage gained under VSC. 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.

“This is a breach and the standard penalty is applied for the advantage gained at that time.

“The net effect of this put the driver ahead of where he was at the start of the VSC and not as a result of the car in front falling back.”