Max Verstappen has been cleared of any wrongdoing regarding his potential yellow-flag breach in sprint qualifying at Formula 1’s Singapore Grand Prix.
Verstappen was reported to have overtaken Lewis Hamilton in a yellow-flag zone in SQ1, after Sergio Perez crashed in Turn 5 and ended up losing his front wing on the racing line. The incident ended up triggering a red flag.
FIA stewards believe Verstappen to have sufficiently slowed down for the yellow flag by fully lifting off the throttle; they have deemed the speed differential between the Red Bull and the Ferrari to have been too substantial for the Dutchman to brake safely, with Hamilton 70km/h slower.
Verstappen will therefore keep pole position for the sprint race at Marina Bay Street Circuit, with no grid penalty or any other sanction.
The stewards’ decision in full
“The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 3 (Max Verstappen), the driver of Car 44 (Lewis Hamilton), team representatives and reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video, timing, telemetry, team radio and in-car video evidence.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images
“As Car 3 was exiting turn 7 on a push lap, a single yellow flag was displayed. Car 44 was ahead of Car 3 and had been warned of Car 3’s approach. The Driver of Car 44 said that after exiting turn 7, he slowed and moved to the right to ensure he was off the racing line. Car 3 overtook Car 44 prior to turn 8 while both cars were still in the yellow flag sector. Car 3 then abandoned the push lap.
“The Driver of Car 3 explained that he was on throttle exiting turn 7 and then saw the yellow flag and lifted. This was confirmed by telemetry. Within approximately 40 metres of entering the yellow flag sector, the Driver of Car 3 had lifted fully off throttle.
“The Driver of Car 44 was braking and had reduced speed to less than 60km/h at the point Car 3 overtook. Because Car 3 was on a push lap and was on throttle out of turn 7 and Car 44 had slowed, the speed differential at the point of the overlap was significant despite the fact that the Driver of Car 3 had also started braking.
“The Stewards were satisfied that the Driver of Car 3 reacted appropriately to the yellow flag by lifting off throttle and reducing speed. The speed of [Car 44] at the overtake point was some 70km/h less than Car 3’s speed on another push lap in the same session.
“The Driver of Car 3 explained that to have avoided the overtake would have required him to have braked very heavily and he considered to have done so would have potentially created an unsafe situation.
“The Stewards determined that the Driver of Car 3 breached the yellow flag regulation by overtaking Car 44. However, the Stewards were satisfied that the overtake was an unfortunate consequence of the significant closing speed differential and, in these circumstances, determined not to impose a penalty.”
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