Verstappen keeps Singapore Sprint pole despite yellow flag breach

Verstappen passed him before Turn 8, with both cars still in the yellow flag sector, then abandoned the lap. "Max overtook me under yellow flags," Hamilton reported over the radio. Verstappen's message was: "I'll let Lewis by again. I think I passed him before the yellow, but I just want to be safe."

What the stewards found

After investigating post-session, the stewards ruled that Verstappen had breached the yellow flag regulations but that the circumstances did not warrant a penalty.

Telemetry confirmed he lifted when he saw the flag. Within approximately 40 metres of entering the yellow flag sector, he was fully off throttle. Hamilton was braking and under 60km/h at the point Verstappen went by.

The stewards were satisfied he "reacted appropriately to the yellow flag by lifting off throttle and reducing speed." His speed at the overtake was some 70km/h less than on another push lap in the same session. Verstappen told them that avoiding the pass would have meant braking very heavily, which could have created an unsafe situation. The stewards called it "an unfortunate consequence of the significant closing speed differential".

Why letting it go is right

Verstappen did what a yellow flag asks. He slowed, quickly and by a lot. The problem was that Hamilton had slowed even more to get out of the way, and that speed gap made the pass close to unavoidable. Slamming on the brakes in a yellow sector to stay behind would have swapped one risk for another.

This is the rule applied with common sense, not a free pass. The breach is on the record and the reasoning is in writing.

So Verstappen starts the Sprint from pole, with George Russell alongside him on the front row. It's the first time he has come first in a qualifying session of any sort at Marina Bay, and it follows his and Red Bull's first win of the season at Sepang last time out.

Should a clear pass under yellow always cost grid places, whatever the closing speed? We'd say no, as long as the lift is as quick and as obvious as this one.