George Russell has been handed a five-place grid penalty for failing to adhere to yellow flags during qualifying for Formula 1’s British Grand Prix.
Russell’s Williams team-mate Nicholas Latifi spun through the gravel at Luffield, bringing out the yellow flags, and the following Russell continued on his hot lap.
Russell immediately radioed Williams to inform them that he had lifted but stewards summoned him after the session.
They deemed that Russell “only saw the double yellow flag signal at Turn 7 in his peripheral vision and believed it was just a single yellow.
“He lifted slightly earlier than he had on his previous lap, but his speed was not “significantly” slower than previous laps, although he explained that he was in full control of the car and felt he would have been able to take avoiding action if needed.”
Stewards noted that “the team warned him that a yellow was ahead” and “did not specify that it was a double yellow flag.”
Williams also “did not advise him that he needed to abort the lap” and it transpired that the effort was his quickest of Q1.
It was thus deemed that a five-place demotion, and three points on his license, was the suitable penalty.
Russell went on to qualify 15th and will now drop to the back of the grid for his home race.
