Max Verstappen has been found guilty of overtaking Lewis Hamilton under yellow flags during qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix Sprint race. The stewards ruled the move breached the sporting regulations but decided not to impose a penalty, meaning the four-time world champion keeps pole position for Saturday's Sprint race.
The incident occurred after Sergio Perez crashed in SQ1, burying the front wing of his Cadillac in the barrier. Perez was able to get the car into reverse gear and return to the pit lane, but dragged some of the damaged bodywork underneath his car, with some snapping off later on the lap. This led to race control red-flagging the session so the debris could be cleared off the racing line.
Verstappen's Defence and Stewards' Decision
Before that point, Verstappen was seen moving past Hamilton in the section of the track where yellow flags were in force. TV replays clearly showed yellow lights flashing on the panels above the circuit as the Red Bull moved past the Ferrari. Hamilton was quick to jump on the radio to report his rival.
Verstappen also spoke over the airwaves to suggest he had got the move done before reaching the yellow-affected section of the track. That explanation, however, was debunked by the TV images, and Red Bull had to adopt a different defence strategy when they were called into the stewards' room after the session.
Telemetry Confirms Speed Differential
Verstappen argued to the stewards that he had seen the yellow flags and lifted off the throttle at the exit of turn seven. This was confirmed by the telemetry, the stewards said, as was the fact there was a significant speed differential between the two cars.
Hamilton "was braking and had reduced speed to less than 60kph at the point Verstappen overtook", the stewards confirmed. Verstappen was on a push lap at the time and so was travelling significantly faster than the Ferrari, which had moved out of the way so as not to impede his rival.
No Penalty for the Overtake
Still, Verstappen moved past Hamilton in the sector of the circuit affected by yellow flags, and that is not allowed. The stewards therefore confirmed that the Dutchman was guilty of breaking the sporting regulations but, because of the circumstances, decided not to impose any penalty.
The stewards added: "We were satisfied that the driver of Car 3 [Verstappen] reacted appropriately to the yellow flag by lifting off throttle and reducing speed. The speed of Car 3 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. We determined that the Driver of Car 3 breached the yellow flag regulation by overtaking Car 44 [Hamilton]. 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."
It means George Russell will line up second alongside Verstappen on the front row of the grid. Hamilton qualified sixth for the Sprint race.
