Team-mate Lewis Hamilton caught under yellow flags after Fernando Alonso spun in the final moments of an epic qualifying; Hamilton says FIA need to clarify by how much drivers need to slow
Monday 25 July 2016 11:59, UK
Nico Rosberg has kept his Hungarian GP pole position after surviving an investigation into his controversial lap at the end of Q3 in Budapest.
After studying data of the incident, in which Rosberg passed double-yellow flags after McLaren's Fernando Alonso spun out, the stewards accepted telemetry from the German's Mercedes car 'demonstrated that the driver reduced speed significantly'.
Lewis Hamilton, Rosberg's team-mate and closest title rival, will start Sunday's race alongside the world championship leader on the front row.
Hamilton had to abandon his final flying lap after encountering Alonso's stricken McLaren while Rosberg set the fastest time of any driver during the second sector of the Hungaroring circuit in which the Spaniard had made his mistake.
"For sure there was double waved [yellows], but I had a very big lift and lost a lot of time as a result. I'm sure that'll be ok," said Rosberg.
"I acted according to what you need to do and so I showed a big lift and slowed down. I was slower in that yellow sector than on my previous fast lap, so I'm quite sure that it'll be ok," he later told Sky F1's Rachel Brookes.
But on being told that Rosberg set the fastest time in the middle sector during his pole lap, a visibly-surprised Hamilton responded: "He went purple through the sector? Wow, that is a surprise."
However, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff insisted he didn't believe an investigation was warranted.
"He had a big lift into the yellow zone. It should be ok as per our data," Wolff told Sky F1.
After watching footage from Rosberg's Mercedes of the incident, Sky F1's Martin Brundle commented: "He definitely slowed through that left hander more than normal. That's a savvy pole position."
But Red Bull boss Christian Horner seemed less convinced, remarking: "It's down to the stewards to decide - Rosberg was behind Daniel and managed to get a purple middle sector."
Speaking several hours after the end of qualifying, Hamilton said it would benefit everyone if the FIA moved to clarify by how much drivers needed to slow for yellow flags.
"It needs to clarified now," he said. "For all us drivers, we need to fully understand the yellow flag situation. The way that it's written is not potentially how it's interpreted by the stewards or the drivers. More clarification would be good.
"For me, there was no question, I had to lift because Fernando was on the track. But perhaps for Nico, I think Fernando had cleared [out the way], but there were still flags. So it was just a different scenario."
Hamilton added: "The clarification that's needed is, Nico only lost a tenth through the corner, so if that's what really what we are allowed to do in future? Even though you lift and approach the corner with due care, if that's allowed on a double yellow... I thought maybe that's the case on a single yellow, but maybe on a double I thought you had to pay more caution to it.
"So if it's only a tenth you have to lose that's now different for us all drivers, we can potentially approach it differently. But I'm not sure that's the safest approach."
Earlier this season Force India's Nico Hulkenberg avoided any action from the stewards in a similar situation.
In qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix, Hulkenberg was investigated for failing to slow down under yellow flags when Carlos Sainz left the track following an engine blow out.
On that occasion, the stewards ruled: 'Although the driver went 'green' [setting a personal best time] in the sector where the double yellow flags were displayed, the telemetry clearly demonstrated he had decelerated on approaching the flag point and that his speed reduced in the yellow flag sector.'
