The stewards concluded that Russell's reduction in speed was adequate for a single yellow, and the matter was closed without penalty. Toto Wolff wasn't exactly surprised.
Speaking on Sky Sports F1, the Mercedes team principal made clear he never doubted the outcome:
"It was a 100m lift, single yellow. A 100m lift of George Russell loses a tenth and a half. It is completely on. It was a massive lift. Well done to George for how he managed it. I am proud. I think Kimi Antonelli was under the impression it was a double yellow." Antonelli, who finished fourth, had aborted his own final run after Verstappen's crash – a costly misread of the flag situation if Wolff's account is accurate.
Fred Vasseur, speaking to Sky Sports F1, accepted the stewards' call without much resistance – though not without reservation. "Just no further action, that the race control decided that he slowed down enough. We don't have access to the data of the mini sectors. The lap time is deleted if it's double yellow, it was not double yellow. To have a clear opinion on this you need to have the data, and we don't have access to the data."
Leclerc ended up second, Hamilton third – Ferrari has two cars starting from the front row and the row behind on a circuit where overtaking is far from straightforward. Vasseur's point about the mini-sector data isn't wrong, but his team isn't in a bad position regardless of how Saturday ended.
Speaking on Sky Sports F1, the Mercedes team principal made clear he never doubted the outcome:
"It was a 100m lift, single yellow. A 100m lift of George Russell loses a tenth and a half. It is completely on. It was a massive lift. Well done to George for how he managed it. I am proud. I think Kimi Antonelli was under the impression it was a double yellow." Antonelli, who finished fourth, had aborted his own final run after Verstappen's crash – a costly misread of the flag situation if Wolff's account is accurate.
Fred Vasseur, speaking to Sky Sports F1, accepted the stewards' call without much resistance – though not without reservation. "Just no further action, that the race control decided that he slowed down enough. We don't have access to the data of the mini sectors. The lap time is deleted if it's double yellow, it was not double yellow. To have a clear opinion on this you need to have the data, and we don't have access to the data."
Leclerc ended up second, Hamilton third – Ferrari has two cars starting from the front row and the row behind on a circuit where overtaking is far from straightforward. Vasseur's point about the mini-sector data isn't wrong, but his team isn't in a bad position regardless of how Saturday ended.
2 months ago
