Verstappen keeps Singapore Sprint pole despite yellow-flag breach

Max Verstappen kept pole for Saturday’s Singapore Sprint after the stewards found he had overtaken Lewis Hamilton under yellow flags but decided not to impose a penalty. The FIA’s final Sprint Qualifying classification lists Verstappen first with a 1:31.156, 0.120 seconds ahead of George Russell; Charles Leclerc was third, 0.243 seconds behind.

The incident came in SQ1 after Sergio Pérez hit the barriers and a single yellow flag was displayed. Hamilton reported over team radio that Verstappen had passed him under yellow; Verstappen said he thought he had passed before the flag and would let Hamilton through again to be safe.

The stewards found that Verstappen passed before Turn 8 while both cars were still in the yellow-flag sector. They said he lifted off the throttle and reduced speed after seeing the flag; his speed at the pass was about 70 km/h lower than on another push lap in the session. The stewards described the overtake as an unfortunate consequence of the closing-speed difference.