Max Verstappen has escaped punishment after an investigation into his actions during qualifying at the Canadian Grand Prix.
The Dutchman qualified second for Sunday's race despite setting the exact same time as pole-sitter George Russell. But because the Briton completed his lap first, he was the one who will line up at the very front of the grid.
But shortly after the session, Verstappen was placed under investigation. He was accused of not complying with the race director's instructions in the way that he left the pit lane during qualifying and summoned to give his side of the story.
After a hearing, the stewards decided to take no further action against the Red Bull racer. They explained how they came to that decision in an official FIA document published two-and-a-half hours after the conclusion of qualifying.
It read: "The team stated in the hearing that they assumed Car 1 [Verstappen] had crossed the solid white line separating the fast lane from the working lane when it was released from the garage and therefore followed the procedure outlined in Article 34.8 to leave the pit lane in the order the cars arrived there.
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"The stewards determine that this assumption was inaccurate as no wheel of Car 1 had crossed the solid white line separating the fast lane from the working lane. It is noted that the fast lane is demarcated as the lane (marked by two solid white lines) closest to the pit wall. Any other white lines and/or painted areas have no relevance in this context.
"Given the fact that Car 1 was not in the fast lane at the start of the session, the regulations and the race director's Event Notes (item 11, document 29) only required the driver to blend into the fast lane as soon as it is safe to do so, meaning that if there is a suitable gap in a queue of cars in the fast lane, and without unnecessarily impeding cars already in the fast lane.
"The steward contend that these requirements were fulfilled and take no further action." It means Verstappen will line up alongside the Mercedes of Russell on the front row of the grid for Sunday's race, with the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri just behind them.
After getting out of his Red Bull, the 26-year-old went over to Russell to congratulate him on securing pole. And, speaking in his post-session interview, Verstappen said he was "not that stressed" about what the race holds for Red Bull on a weekend which has seen them struggle again for performance.
He was pleased with a front row berth and smiled as he said: "It's how it is, right? Overall, we had a good qualifying. The whole weekend has been a bit tricky for us. P2, I'll take it - I would have definitely taken it going into qualifying."
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