Verstappen keeps Singapore Sprint pole despite yellow-flag breach

Max Verstappen will retain pole for Saturday’s Singapore Sprint after stewards found that he breached the yellow-flag rules by overtaking Lewis Hamilton during Sprint Qualifying. They decided not to impose a penalty.

The pass came before Turn 8, while both cars were still in the yellow-flag sector. The stewards said Verstappen had lifted fully off the throttle within about 40 metres after entering the sector. Hamilton had slowed to less than 60 km/h at the pass; Verstappen’s speed was about 70 km/h lower than on another push lap in the session.

Verstappen told the stewards that avoiding the pass would have required very heavy braking, which he considered could have created an unsafe situation. The stewards said he had reacted appropriately by lifting and reducing speed, and described the overtake as an unfortunate consequence of the substantial closing-speed difference.