Verstappen calls for F1 qualifying rule change after Russell yellow flag row
George Russell clinched pole position in Austria
Max Verstappen believes F1 drivers are exploiting the yellow flag regulations in qualifying by only lifting marginally.
George Russell’s pole position lap at the Austrian Grand Prix divided opinion as the Mercedes driver held onto P1 despite driving past a yellow flag that was waved when Verstappen crashed his RB22.
Max Verstappen wants Formula 1 to ban qualifying laps after yellow flags.
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Verstappen crashed at Turn 9 in qualifying, with marshals initially waving a single yellow flag that was upgraded 22 seconds later to a double-waved yellow.
Russell passed the scene of the accident when it was still a single yellow.
He briefly lifted, losing 0.08 seconds, but it was enough to satisfy the stewards that there would be no further action.
Russell retained pole position and went on to win the Grand Prix.
It has, however, shone a spotlight on the subject of yellow flags and how much of a lift is enough of a lift.
Carlos Sainz called it dangerous, saying: “The way George handled it, I think, was perfect for what the rule book allows you to do, and he deserved that pole position because he played the rules to perfection.
“But he should have never been, I think, allowed to finish that lap or to close a lap in that kind of dangerous situation.”
But he didn’t stop there. The Williams driver would also like to see any driver who causes a yellow during qualifying receive a grid penalty as it unfairly penalises other drivers.
“I think,” he added, “that anyone who generates a yellow flag or a red flag in a qualifying should be three-place grid drop, so at least you get penalised and you get disincentivised.”
That was put to Verstappen, and while he says a deliberate yellow should come with a “bigger penalty”, his main concern is that Russell was allowed to complete his lap.
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“I think when someone does it deliberately, there should be an even bigger penalty,” he told PlanetF1.com and other media.
“But from my side, of course, it was out of my control what happened there.
“It’s a topic that we have been talking about for a long time, and in other series, when you create a double, whatever yellow or red, you lose your lap.
“But that still doesn’t solve what actually happened besides that.
“People are still completing a lap, or others are backing out of it.
“Now you, of course, can read the rules really well. You complete your lap and you’re allowed to keep it.
“But I think, first of all, it should not have been a single yellow. That is at least a double yellow or a red, first of all.
“The driver then, of course, optimises around it. I think that’s fair play. I probably would have tried to do the same. That’s just how it goes.
“But it should not even be allowed or be possible to finish your lap like that.
“That’s, for me, the main concern in all of it.”
Russell’s lift at the Red Bull Ring cost the driver all of 0.08s according to PlanetF1.com’s data analyst Uros Radovanovic.
Verstappen says drivers are gaming the system when it comes to the rules on yellow flags and how much of a lift is enough.
“I’ve had this discussion many times where I felt like drivers have been quite close to playing with that limit,” he added.
“I think we’re still not really on top of those things. With a single yellow, how much you have to slow down, or with a double yellow.
“Some slow down more than others. One is good, one is bad. It’s a very tough subject.”
Additional reporting by Thomas Maher
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