Hamilton escapes penalty over yellow flag infringement

Lewis Hamilton has retained his third place in the British Grand Prix after escaping a time penalty for not slowing for a yellow flag.

The stewards noted Hamilton had potentially infringed yellow flag regulations during Sunday’s race, and investigated the incident after the checkered flag. Hamilton was cited for not slowing when yellow flags were deployed for Nico Hulkenberg’s stricken Audi at Copse, but the stewards decided there were enough mitigating circumstances to not hand out a time penalty, and opted for a reprimand.

A time penalty would have been particularly damaging post-race as the grand prix ended up safety car, meaning an addition of five seconds of race time would have demoted him to 14th and outside the points.

“[Hamilton] entered the relevant sector before any yellow flag or yellow light panel was displayed, with no such indication present before Turn 9 [Copse],” the stewards’ decision read. “The first light panel encountered after Turn 9 was displaying green immediately before Turn 10. The yellow indication on the steering wheel display only appeared once the driver was already on the straight towards Turn 10 and close to the end of the yellow flag zone.

“The evidence showed that there was no yellow light panel warning within the driver’s immediate field of vision and that the yellow indication on the steering wheel display remained visible for only a very short period. The stewards were therefore satisfied that the time available for the driver to react to the yellow flag indication was very limited.

“The stewards also accept that, immediately prior to entering the sector, [Hamilton] had been involved in an overtaking maneuver with [Max Verstappen] and that the driver was expecting a counter attack. As a result, his attention remained directed to his mirrors for most of the straight towards Turn 10, rather than immediately towards the green light panel at the end of the sector. The stewards took this into account when considering whether the visibility of the green light panel should itself have made it clear to the driver that he was still within a yellow flag zone.

“The stewards nevertheless determine that, after the yellow had been displayed on the steering wheel display and the green light panel was illuminated immediately before Turn 10, Hamilton did not make a discernible reduction of speed and therefore did not fully comply with the requirements applicable under a single yellow flag.”

Hamilton’s finishing position ensures he has now closed the gap to championship leader Kimi Antonelli to 32 points, with George Russell seven ahead of the Ferrari driver.