Antonelli hit with grid drop for yellow flag infringement in F1 Hungarian GP qualifying

Kimi Antonelli has been given a three-place grid drop for Formula 1’s Hungarian Grand Prix after being penalised for not heeding yellow flags.

Antonelli took fourth on the grid at the Hungaroring as Mercedes was beaten by both McLaren’s polesitter Lando Norris and the two Ferraris. On his final qualifying run, however, Antonelli caught yellow flags in the final corner – where Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was stationary in the runoff area after a spin.

Antonelli still improved his final sector time to take fourth, with the stewards investigating if the Italian had lifted enough to respect the local yellows.

The championship leader has been handed a three-place grid drop, which will demote him to seventh on the grid, because the stewards felt he had only lifted by the tiniest amount and was still faster through the corner than on his previous push lap.

Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton also received a three-place grid penalty for impeding Oscar Piastri in Turn 1, with Piastri now moving up to third and Verstappen joining him on the second row.

“The driver of Car 12 stated that on seeing the yellow flag and light panel, he lifted off the throttle earlier than his previous push lap,” the stewards wrote in their verdict. “This was verified by the telemetry. However the reduction in speed occurred for a very short period, and in fact the car’s speed when passing the scene of the incident involving Car 3, was slightly higher than that on the previous push lap.

“The mini sector time was only 0.03 second slower than his best time for that mini sector, and whilst, because he had lifted 16 metres earlier, he was 14 km/h slower entering the yellow flag sector, but was 3 km/h faster when passing the incident site due to less application of the brakes entering the corner. The FIA representatives noted that the speed reduction in the mini sector was less than 1%.

“The Stewards considered this incident to be different to other incidents that have resulted in no further action, because unlike those cases, there was no significant speed delta through the mini sector compared to the driver’s previous fastest time under similar circumstances.”

Antonelli could have faced a five-placed grid drop for the offence, but the stewards felt that the Italian at least scrubbing off some speed warranted a more lenient penalty. The 19-year-old also gets a penalty point on his licence.

“The recommended penalty according to the penalty guidelines, for this offence, is a drop of 5 grid positions,” the FIA stewards added. “However in mitigation of penalty, we considered that the driver did make a reduction in speed, albeit, in our determination, an insufficient and unsustained one. Further, the driver had limited time and distance to react. Hence a lower penalty is applied.”

Antonelli also received a warning for driving too slowly and exceeding the minimum delta times on his in-lap following his final qualifying attempt.

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– The Autosport.com Team