I agree that it is absolutely ridiculous to hand out a penalty here. Traffic is just part of the qualifying system and it always has been, except for the single-lap qualifying system that was extremely boring.
In this particular event, it's not race control that should penalise, but rather the FIA who should ask themselves how the hell did they end up in this situation, that a car which is 20m ahead can ruin front downforce of a following car.
Ah well, at least now I remember why I disliked mad Max, even before the scandal