Esteban Ocon has avoided a fine following an investigation by Silverstone stewards into an alleged yellow flag violation during British Grand Prix qualifying.
Yellow flags and the question of how much drivers should slow down when they see them are one of the main topics in the paddock at the moment, after George Russell took pole position in Austria, improving by just 0.08 seconds from Max Verstappen’s crash.
Esteban Ocon escapes punishment after yellow flag investigation
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The stewards briefly reviewed Russell’s actions but ruled that no further investigation was required as he had lifted the ball.
A week later, the stewards were again watching the driver’s speed as he passed the yellow flag, and Ocon did not appear to slow down as he passed a spinning Franco Colapinto.
Colapinto lost the ball to Becketts and went flying across the grass before sliding back across the track and into the tee box outside the turn.
This caused yellow flags to appear and Ocon quickly drove past the scene. The stewards flagged him for a potential yellow flag violation.
Ocon and Haas spoke to the stewards after qualifying, who, after reviewing all the evidence, ruled that there would be no further action.
Ocon thus retains his P17 on the grid.
The stewards’ verdict read: “The driver explained that before Turn 10 he had noticed white smoke ahead and was therefore already expecting that a yellow or possibly a red flag might be raised.
“He saw the illuminated yellow light bar on the right hand side as he approached Turn 12 and reacted by releasing the throttle earlier than on a comparable representative lap and remaining off the throttle for a longer period.
“Telemetry confirmed that the driver climbed earlier, applied more brake pressure than on his comparable fast lap (lap 6), and showed a noticeable reduction in speed in the corresponding yellow flag sorting section compared to this representative lap in similar conditions.
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“The stewards noted that the driver was riding on the new soft tires and had improved his time on lap 6 in several mini-sectors prior to the yellow flag sector, which made the reduction in speed in the yellow flag section more obvious.
“The stewards were therefore satisfied that the driver had clearly reduced speed in the relevant triage sector and had complied with the requirements of Article B1.8.4 a) of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations and Article 2.5.5 b) of Appendix H of the FIA International Sporting Code.
“Accordingly, no violations were identified and no further action was taken.”
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