Max Verstappen has been summoned to the stewards' office in Qatar for an alleged double yellow-flags infringement in Q3, a breach that could put in jeopardy his front-row start alongside Lewis Hamilton on Sunday.
The Red Bull driver was on the verge of completing his second and final flyer in the shootout when he passed Pierre Gasly's stranded AlphaTauri on the side of the track.
The Frenchman had pulled over after suffering a right front tyre puncture, after which double yellow flags were waved in the zone in which Gasly had stopped, a clear order for drivers to abandon their lap.
However, Verstappen pressed on and improved his lap time although he finished runner-up to Verstappen to championship rival Lewis Hamilton in the session.
It's unclear if the yellow warning signal appeared or not on Verstappen's dashboard, while Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas was also unaware of any warning.
But a third driver, Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, was also in the steward's line of sight regarding a potential yellow flag breach.
While Verstappen allegedly ignored a double yellow, Bottas and Sainz's transgression involve a single yellow flag breach.
All three drivers are set to be investigated tomorrow morning at Losail. If Verstappen and Bottas are found guilty of an infringement and penalized with a grid demotion, AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly, who qualified fourth, could line up alongside Hamilton on Sunday's grid!
"I heard after the session he had damaged his front wing, but from my side it was all okay," commented Verstappen after qualifying.
Bottas added: "Same thing I heard only afterwards, and I had no yellow flags or anything."
It was noted that the summons was for 1pm local time in Qatar on Sunday - or four hours before the start of the race, which means that there will be no decision tonight.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff refrained from adding any fuel to the fire that his erupted between his team and Red Bull, but the Austrian called the infringement a potential "triple whammy" for Verstappen.
"I've just seen it," he said. "I've seen that he is passing a flashing light, I think a flashing red or flashing yellow light on the left.
"Then he's passing the double waved yellows and there is a standing car on the road. I guess it's a bit of a triple whammy.
"They've gone after us with a yellow flag, passing a yellow flag on the outside. It's in the stewards' hands.
"I wouldn't want to comment much more of what should happen or not happen. I think the stewards are looking at it and they need to come up with a verdict."
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