FIA Clears Verstappen of Penalty After Hamilton Incident

Max Verstappen, driving for Red Bull, has managed to avoid a penalty after a close encounter with Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton during sprint qualifying at the Singapore Grand Prix. The incident occurred when Verstappen appeared to overtake Hamilton under yellow flags following an earlier crash by Cadillac's Sergio Perez, which left debris on the track.

During the incident, Hamilton reported over team radio that Verstappen overtook him under the yellow flag conditions. Verstappen, however, conveyed to Red Bull that he believed he had completed the maneuver before the yellow flags were displayed.

The FIA stewards investigated the event thoroughly, considering input from both drivers, team representatives, and reviewing a plethora of data including video, telemetry, and radio communications. Their findings indicated that Verstappen was indeed in motion on a push lap when the yellow flags came out, and Hamilton had slowed significantly to avoid the racing line. As Verstappen approached, he lifted off the throttle upon spotting the yellow flag.

Despite overtaking Hamilton in the yellow flag zone, the stewards noted that the significant speed differential between the two cars contributed to the situation. Verstappen was traveling much slower than usual for a push lap, having reduced his speed by about 70 km/h compared to other laps.

The stewards concluded that Verstappen's actions were appropriate given the circumstances, and that avoiding the overtake would have required an abrupt braking maneuver, which might have led to an unsafe situation. They determined that while Verstappen technically breached the yellow flag regulation, the overtake was an unfortunate result of the significant speed difference, and thus decided against imposing any penalty.