Sebastian Vettel narrowly avoided a post-race penalty after he passed the Lotus of Jarno Trulli under yellow flag conditions.
The Red Bull driver won the Malaysian GP after getting past his teammate at the very first corner of the race. After dominating the race he overtook Trulli at turn four toward the end of the race when marshal’s were waving the yellow flags.
The FIA called Vettel to the stewards office after the podium celebrations to hear his side of the story.
The regulatory body made the decision not to penalise the Red Bull driver, despite confirming he breached article 2.4.5.1 b) of Appendix H of the International Sporting Code.
After careful consideration, and analysis of the telemetry data, they found he reduced his speed considerably when passing the marked area.
A press release from the FIA read: “The Stewards, having noted that the Driver made a very large reduction in speed through the yellow flag area and that he understood that Car 18 [Trulli] was slowing with an obvious problem, [the FIA] DECIDE in accordance with Article 16.2 a) of the Formula One Sporting Regulations to impose no penalty.
