Sebastian Vettel has avoided a penalty after he was found to have cut turn five on his in-lap during his first of two stints in Q3.
The FIA confirmed the incident was under investigation as per Article 20.13 which stipulates that the white line marks the track boundaries, but on hearing from Vettel and reviewing the footage, have decided it doesn’t warrant any sanction.
The official explanation was that the German crossed the line to start his second run with 17 seconds to spare, and therefore would have had plenty of time had he not cut the corner in the first place – a move which only saved him four to six seconds.
Vettel will start the race from second, behind Lewis Hamilton.
