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Max Verstappen has avoided a penalty for a yellow-flag infringement during Sprint Qualifying at the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix. The Red Bull driver was placed under investigation after overtaking Lewis Hamilton—a move spotted on the live broadcast and reported over the team radio by the Briton.
The incident unfolded during the first phase of Sprint Qualifying after Sergio Perez crashed at Turn 5, leaving his front wing on the racing line and subsequently bringing out the red flags. Verstappen caught and passed Hamilton within the yellow-flag zone, but the FIA stewards ruled that the Dutchman had slowed down sufficiently by lifting completely off the throttle. They noted the closing speed between the Red Bull and Ferrari was simply too great for Verstappen to stop safely, with Hamilton travelling roughly 70 km/h slower.
Consequently, Verstappen retains his top spot for the Sprint race at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, escaping any time penalty or grid drop as the FIA opted against sanctioning the Red Bull driver.
The full stewards' verdict:
"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.
"As Car 3 was exiting Turn 7 on a push lap, a single yellow flag was displayed. Car 44 was travelling ahead and was warned of Car 3 approaching. The driver of Car 44 stated that on exiting Turn 7 he slowed down and moved to the right to be off the racing line. Car 3 passed Car 44 before Turn 8 whilst both cars were still in the yellow flag sector, following which Car 3 aborted his push lap.
"The driver of Car 3 explained that he was on throttle on the exit of Turn 7, after which he saw the yellow flag and lifted off. This was supported by telemetry. Within approximately 40 metres of entering the yellow flag sector, the driver of Car 3 had lifted off the throttle completely.
"The driver of Car 44 was braking and had reduced his speed to below 60 km/h by the time Car 3 passed him. Because Car 3 was on a push lap and accelerating out of Turn 7 while Car 44 was slowing down, the closing speed was significant, despite the driver of Car 3 also beginning to brake.
"The Stewards are satisfied that the driver of Car 3 reacted properly to the yellow flag by lifting off and reducing speed. Car 44's speed at the point of overtaking was approximately 70 km/h slower than Car 3's speed on another push lap in the same session.
"The driver of Car 3 explained that to avoid overtaking, he would have had to brake extremely heavily, which he felt would have created a potentially hazardous situation.
"The Stewards determined that the driver of Car 3 breached the yellow flag regulations by overtaking Car 44. However, the Stewards accepted that the overtake was a consequence of the high closing speed and, in the circumstances, decided to take no further action."
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