Verstappen handed two penalty points

Max Verstappen was handed two penalty points on his licence and a third grid penalty on Saturday after ignoring yellow flags during qualifying for the Russian Grand Prix.

The Dutch Red Bull driver, who turns 21 on Sunday, took no notice of the flags when Russian Sergey Sirotkin spun his Williams.

READ | Valtteri Bottas upstages Hamilton to take Russian GP pole

Verstappen told the stewards he had acted safely, but was given a three-place grid penalty and two points on his licence, taking him up to seven. A driver who has 12 points in a year is banned for one race.

The grid penalty will have little meaning as he was due to start from the back of the grid with at least four others after collecting penalties for power unit and gearbox changes.