George Russell took a sensational pole position at Sundayโs Austrian Grand Prix despite running through yellow flags after Red Bullโs Max Verstappen crashed at turn nine, while his Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli was knocked out and failed to improve โ so why did the Silver Arrows take different approaches and how did Russell escape investigation?
Okay, letโs start from the beginning. What happened at the final stage of qualifying?
He was set up superbly, with Antonelli fastest just 0.043 seconds behind Russell, and Verstappen just 0.014 seconds behind after the opening runs (which Ferrariโs Lewis Hamilton aborted after missing Turn 3).
When the second heats began, Hamilton was fastest before being usurped by Leclerc. But behind them, Verstappen, Antonelli and Russell โ in that order โ were flying and fighting for pole.
But then Verstappen lost his car at Turn 9 and bounced off the gravel before hitting the barriers sideways โ ending his session and bringing out the yellow flags.
Okay, what happens when the yellow flag appears?
Well, letโs start with the fact that there are two types of yellow flag scenarios. Single yellow flag and double yellow flag.
The sporting rules state that if a single yellow flag is displayed, any driver passing through that triage sector โmust reduce speed and be prepared to change direction.โ
They add: โIn order for stewards to be satisfied that any such driver has complied with these requirements, they must brake early and/or reduce speed noticeably in the relevant triage area.โ
To raise the yellow flag twice, drivers โmust reduce their speed significantly and be prepared to change direction or stop.โ
They add: โFor the stewards to be satisfied that any such driver has complied with these requirements, it must be clear that the driver did not attempt to set a meaningful lap time on the lap in question.
โIn addition, during sprint qualifying or qualifying, any driver passing through the sorting sector with a double yellow flag will have that lap time removed.โ
The obvious question then becomes: what was that yellow flag?
One yellow flag meant riders could complete the lap in flight, provided they slowed down enough.
Russell immediately noticed that it was one yellow flag waving and adjusted his speed accordingly, but still had enough performance to take a sensational pole position.
โThe entrance on this corner is up,โ Russell immediately reported over the command radio. โI lost a lot of time. I picked it up. Thereโs a big rise at the entrance in that corner.โ
The stewards noted that there may have been an impropriety on Russellโs part โ unsurprising given he had improved his time from the first run โ but they decided not to launch a full investigation and so his time and result stood.
โThis is all his experience,โ said his boss Toto Wolff. โHe raised the required amount at the right time, and this is pole position.โ
So, if Russell went up, why did Antonelli, who was on the road ahead, refuse to do so?
Unfortunately, the Italian thought he had seen a double rather than a single yellow and so followed the rules of this flag scenario by significantly adjusting his speed, denying him the opportunity to improve his time.
Despite this mistake, championship leader Antonelli did not think he would still be able to take pole position.
โIt was unfortunate, but it was a mistake on my part because I thought I was seeing double yellows and instead they were single yellows, so I aborted the lap completely when I could have just done the lift like George did,โ he said.
โI think up to that point I was a tenth slower than George, so it would still have been difficult to get pole, but at least the front row was there.โ
Wolff agreed: โYes, he will be very upset because he was the dominant driver all weekend. And in the end he missed it with a yellow card. However, I think George was faster anyway up until this point.โ
Antonelli will start fourth on Sunday behind Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.
What does this mean for the championship fight?
It was a big moment for Russell, who had struggled to match Antonelliโs pace on Friday โ and although he was quicker in FP3, it was Antonelli who led the first two segments of qualifying, with Russell fifth and fourth respectively.
The Briton took his second pole position in a row and, with two Ferraris between him and his teammate, he will be looking to push back on Antonelliโs lead.