Verstappen loses pole position in Qatar after qualifying penalty

Max Verstappen has lost his pole position for the Qatar Grand Prix due to a penalty for driving too slowly during qualifying. He will now start in second place, while George Russell of Mercedes takes the pole. The stewards penalized Verstappen for forcing Russell to take evasive action as he prepared for his final lap. Verstappen was cooling his tires and exceeded the allowed speed delta, which led to the incident. Russell expressed concern that the incident may have affected his performance, as he had to navigate through gravel while avoiding Verstappen. The stewards noted that both drivers were not on their qualifying laps at the time.