Azerbaijan GP: Russell escapes penalty for yellow flag incident

George Russell escaped a grid penalty at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after race control investigated a possible yellow flag violation by the Mercedes driver during qualifying.

Russell qualified fifth for Sunday's race, but was called to the stewards after the session to explain why he had not slowed down in an area of ​​the track where yellow flags were raised.

Single yellow flags are waved to warn drivers of an incident on the track. Failure to slow down usually results in a three-place grid penalty.

However, due to mitigating circumstances, Russell received only a driving ban instead of a fine.

Russell was just entering Turn 2 when yellow flags were waved to warn oncoming drivers about Carlos Sainz's Ferrari in the run-off area.

Race control concluded that Russell was unable to brake in time because he was already in the corner.

The race directors drew a comparison with an incident involving Charles Leclerc during Friday practice in Baku, in which the Ferrari driver also got away with a warning.

“Race control considers that there was no reasonable way for Russell to have seen the flag and, even if he had seen it, he would not have been able to change his braking.

“After coming around the corner, Russell accelerated normally. Unlike Leclerc, however, the green light between Turn 2 and Turn 3 was quite a bit further back on the track and was harder to see when accelerating than it was for Leclerc. But ultimately Russell saw the green.

“Russell was also unable to benefit from DRS in this zone as it was automatically switched off, slowing his lap.”

“The race director pointed out many mitigating circumstances in the Leclerc decision. In this case, the race directors believe there are further mitigating circumstances.”

“However, for safety reasons, drivers need to understand that when they see a car in a run-off zone and the light is green, they are in a yellow sector and that there are indicators, such as lifting or at least limited acceleration, and they need to be aware that other problems can also arise in a yellow zone.

“In these limited circumstances, particularly because the yellow flag could not be seen, the stewards therefore impose a warning rather than a more serious penalty.

“The Stewards recommend that this matter be clarified at the next drivers' meeting and point out that these penalties should not constitute a binding precedent.”