George Russell has explained the “rule of thumb” followed in F1 qualifying after Carlos Sainz’s radical proposal for grid penalties if drivers cause yellow or red flags.
Russell’s pole position in Austria came in unusual circumstances and under yellow flags after Max Verstappen crashed, with Kimi Antonelli aborting his lap as he believed there were double-waved yellows, which requires drivers to “slow down and be prepared to stop.”
Under single-waved yellows, drivers merely only have to lift off to avoid a sanction – with Russell keeping the pole.
At Silverstone, Williams racer and GPDA director Sainz proposed a system whereby any driver who caused a yellow or red flag would be handed a grid penalty.
Whilst Russell felt this idea had both “pros and cons”, the Mercedes driver explained the difficult balancing act the marshals and stewards must tread in waving the appropriate flags after incidents
“It definitely has been spoken about before that if somebody causes a yellow or a red flag, it should be punished,” Russell explained when asked by RacingNews365 for his thoughts on Sainz’s proposal.
“Because it does have an effect on other drivers whether your fastest lap is deleted, and we see that in other series, but on the flip side, people would also say that drivers are not taking as much risk come qualifying, and you want to see drivers pushing the limits.
“No one wants to see someone get hurt, but you want to see drivers going off track at points and going beyond the limit, so there are pros and cons both ways.
“I think it stemmed from Baku, when a lot of drivers would lock up and run down the escape road, and the drivers felt that it should not be a double yellow, because it completely ruined the lap of another driver, but that a single yellow would be sufficient, unless the FIA thought otherwise.
“That was the rule of thumb that has been taken forward, which is that whenever there is an incident in qualifying, it would be a single yellow, but we also have to remember the person putting out a single yellow is a volunteer, the marshal.
“It is not the FIA to start with, the FIA review it and then upgrades it if they think it is necessary, and I’ve been talking for 30 seconds now with that answer, and they need to react in the space of five, six, or 10 seconds – and that just isn’t possible.
“So should the Austria incident have been a double yellow? Of course it should have been, but there are many times in the past where drivers say it shouldn’t have been a double yellow, and that a single yellow is sufficient, so it is not an easy job.”