'F1 stewards admitted Verstappen should’ve had Singapore GP grid drops’ 

The Red Bull driver was controversially let off with reprimands only for two impeding incidents that occurred during qualifying in Singapore. 

Verstappen faced three separate impeding investigations following qualifying, including for blocking AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and Williams’ Logan Sargeant, as well as for causing a queue at the end of the pit lane. 

Sky F1 commentator David Croft revealed that one of the stewards had admitted that mistakes were made during a meeting with team bosses ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix on Thursday. 

"One of the stewards from the Singapore GP admitted, in a meeting with team managers at Suzuka, that Verstappen should have had a grid drop for the Yuki impeding at least, and potentially a second drop for the pit lane incident,” Croft said during Sky’s coverage of second practice on Friday. 

Verstappen recovered to finish fifth in Singapore after starting 11th on the grid. 

Had he received two standard three-pace grid penalties for his offences, Verstappen would instead have been forced to start from 17th. 

The decision by AlphaTauri - Red Bull’s sister team - to miss the FIA stewards hearing for the Verstappen-Tsunoda incident raised eyebrows in the paddock and even started conspiracy theories among fans.