Mercedes' George Russell with Red Bull's Max Verstappen Mercedes' George Russell with Red Bull's Max Verstappen 
George Russell will start the Qatar Grand Prix from pole position after Max Verstappen received a one-place grid penalty. (More Motorsport News)cashman slots
The Dutchman had secured what would have been his first pole in five months after pipping George Russell in qualifying but was deemed to have impeded the Brit in the final stages.
Verstappen, who last week clinched a fourth successive world championship, topped qualifying after the second round and crossed the line 0.055 seconds faster than the Mercedes.
However, he was called by stewards after the final session for allegedly "driving unnecessarily slow" on a warm-up lap, which led to Russell having to take evasive action over the kerb to avoid crashing into the Red Bull.
As neither driver was on a flying lap at the time of the incident, Verstappen only received a one-place penalty as opposed to the usual three.
Speaking before the ruling, Russell was frustrated by Verstappen's driving, claiming it affected his final lap.
"When you're preparing for your lap, and you end up going through the gravel two corners before the lap starts, it's not exactly the ideal preparation," he said.
"There was no reason why I shouldn't have improved, and I went three-tenths slower.
Another day, another impressive Quali performance Great effort out there, GR pic.twitter.com/jwYUngVdZH
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) November 30, 2024"We've got this delta on the steering wheel we have to follow, and that was implemented to stop cars going too slow on the out-lap, to avoid high-to-low speed incidents.
"He was clearly going too slow. I was following the rules and almost had the crash.
"To be honest, I'll be surprised if anything happens, but it was just a bit of a shame to finish that way because I felt in a really great groove."
While the order of the front two was changed by the ruling, it did not affect the second row, with McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri finishing third and fourth respectively.
Their rivals for the constructors' championship, Ferrari, meanwhile, did not fare as well, with Charles Leclerc finishing fifth, with Carlos Sainz behind Lewis Hamilton in seventh.
"Everyone saw how close it was between all of us for the whole of qualifying, not a lot in it which gives us hope that we can still go forward," Norris said of the constructors' championship.
"There are some very quick cars behind at the same time. We will look forward to it and I think we showed a good race today. I did have the benefit of being out front in clean aircashman slots, which is a beautiful thing, but I expect a tougher race."