FEATURE
N
ico Rosberg kept pole position for
Hungarian Grand Prix after having
come under FIA stewards investigation
for not slowing down enough for the yellow
flags that cost title rival Lewis Hamilton a shot
at top spot.
A spin for McLaren’s Fernando Alonso
brought out the yellow flags in the dying
seconds of the rain-delayed qualifying
session.
Hamilton, on his final flying lap, came
upon Alonso’s, car which was sideways and
partially on the track, and had to abort his run.
The Briton was already on provisional pole
and going faster than Rosberg at that time.
His Mercedes team mate, behind
Hamilton on the road, improved on his final
lap to seize pole despite onboard footage
showing Rosberg driving past ‘double waved’
yellow flags, prompting the investigation.
The rules state that a driver must reduce
speed significantly and be prepared to change
direction or stop in case of ‘double waved’
yellow flags, and Rosberg and team boss Toto
Wolff argued he had lifted off enough.
“No further action,” stewards declared in
a statement on concluding their investigation
more than three hours after the end of
qualifying. “The telemetry demonstrated that
the driver reduced speed significantly into
Turn 8.”
The stewards’ decision secures Rosberg
the 26th pole of his career and fourth of the
season. It is also the Mercedes team’s 46th
pole from the last 49 races, with the German
outfit starting all but one round this year from
the top spot on the grid.