Max Verstappen has been hit with a retrospective five-second penalty for the Brazilian Grand Prix sprint race after an FIA investigation into a Virtual Safety Car breach.

The penalty drops the Red Bull man from third to fourth in the final classification, losing him a further point to McLaren driver and F1 2024 title rival Lando Norris.

Max Verstappen hit with five-second penalty by FIA

Red Bull star Verstappen finished third on track in the sprint race at Interlagos as Norris took victory with the help of McLaren team orders.

The sprint was put under Virtual Safety Car in the closing laps at Sao Paulo after Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas came to a halt at the side of the track carrying a suspected exhaust issue.

As the race was preparing to resume, Verstappen momentarily pulled alongside Norris’s team-mate Oscar Piastri on the approach to Turn 4, one of the key overtaking spots on the Brazilian GP, before backing out of a potential move as the pair reached the corner.

Television replays showed trackside panels denoting a Virtual Safety Car period as Verstappen and Piastri reached Turn 4, with the race officially resuming seconds later.

The incident occurred while the race was still under VSC conditions, with an investigation launched over whether Verstappen’s action broke the VSC rules.

Under VSC, drivers are required to drive to a so-called ‘delta time’ to prevent competitors from gaining an unfair advantage while the race is neutralised.

The FIA have confirmed that Verstappen has been handed a retrospective five-second penalty, dropping him to fourth behind Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc.

It means Verstappen’s lead over Norris in the World Championship has been reduced to 44 points ahead of tomorrow’s main race in Brazil.

Verstappen has also been hit with one penalty point, putting him on seven accrued over the last 12 months. Drivers face a one-race ban if they collect 12 penalty points over a 12-month period.

The FIA’s verdict read: “The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 1 (Max Verstappen), team representative and reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, timing, telemetry evidence.

“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.”

Verstappen’s latest penalty from the FIA comes after the three-time World Champion was hit with a rare 20-second time penalty during last weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix.

It came after Verstappen was involved in two separate incidents with Norris, with the Dutchman handed two 10-second penalties.

The incident reopened the debate over driving standards in F1, with Verstappen’s conduct in wheel-to-wheel situations coming under scrutiny from a number of pundits and F1 insiders – including former F1 driver Johnny Herbert, who was on the stewards’ panel in Mexico.

Speaking in an independent capacity earlier this week, Mr Herbert criticised Verstappen’s “horrible mindset” in battle and described his acts against Norris as an “absolute no no.”

Mr Herbert is also present on the four-man stewards’ panel in Brazil this weekend.