GianPiero Lambiase told Max Verstappen that “karma is a wonderful thing” after he overcame a rare one-place grid penalty to win in Qatar.

Verstappen and Red Bull were not best pleased to see the reigning World Champion was punished for driving unnecessarily slowly on a cool down lap and impeding George Russell, who was also on a cool lap, but he went on to win the Qatar Grand Prix in impressive fashion on Sunday.

Max Verstappen ‘definitely did not drive unnecessarily slowly today’ in Qatar Grand Prix win

Christian Horner likened Verstappen’s penalty after qualifying to “a footballer taking a dive in the penalty box” when Russell closed up to the back of the World Champion on their cool lap, which prompted a one-place grid penalty, which the FIA stewards mitigated from a usual three-place penalty given the unusual circumstances of the scenario.

But it proved ultimately immaterial, with Verstappen taking the lead over Russell into Turn 1 in Qatar and leading from lights to flag, through a race with multiple Safety Car periods, penalties for other drivers and collisions throughout the field.

After crossing the line, Verstappen’s race engineer Lambiase took the moment to take a not-so-subtle dig at the penalty that came his driver’s way after qualifying.

“Okay mate, karma is a wonderful thing,” Lambiase said over team radio.

“Definitely did not drive necessarily slowly today, great job.”

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Team principal Christian Horner added: “Absolutely outstanding, your ninth victory of the year. That is quite an achievement. Well done, mate.”

As for Verstappen, he was enjoying the battle at the front with Lando Norris before reporting the McLaren driver to the FIA for not lifting on the start/finish straight under yellow flag conditions – for which Norris was handed a 10-second stop/go penalty.

With his nearest challenger out of the way, Verstappen was able to bring another victory back to Red Bull for their efforts, and it was one he relished in Lusail.

“It was very good race,” he said after the chequered flag.

“Already yesterday, in qualifying, the car was a lot better. And today, that first stint was very, very fast.

“Lando and I were just within 1.8 seconds of each other the whole time pushing each other and, honestly, it was a lot of fun out there.

“This track has a lot of grip, and this year, the tyres are really holding on, so that was honestly a lot of fun to be really pushing the tyre.

“We went really long in that first stint after that. Of course, there were a few Safety Car moments that you had to take care, but very happy.

“It’s been a while in the dry to be this competitive, and very proud of everyone within the team to turn it around within a day, so they definitely also deserve this victory.”

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