Nico Rosberg has escaped punishment after falling foul of the safety car lines rule.

The German was summoned by the stewards at the end of qualifying after he was said to have exceeded the maximum time set by the FIA between the safety car lines after the pit exit and before the pit entry during the opening minutes of Q1 - essentially driving unnecessarily slowly - a breach of Article 27.5 of the Sporting Regulations.

However, he escaped punishment when the stewards, following their investigation, deemed that the German was not on an in lap when the time between the safety car lines was set.

For clarification, article 27.5 states:

"At no time may a car be driven unnecessarily slowly, erratically or in a manner which could be deemed potentially dangerous to other drivers or any other person. This will apply whether any such car is being driven on the track, the pit entry or the pit lane.

"In order to ensure that cars are not driven unnecessarily slowly on in laps during and after the end of qualifying or during reconnaissance laps when the pit exit is opened for the race, drivers must stay below the maximum time set by the FIA between the Safety Car line after the pit exit and Safety Car line before the pit entry. The maximum time will be determined by the race director at each Event after the first day of practice but may be amended later in the Event if deemed necessary. The time will normally be based upon 145% of the best dry P1 or P2 time."

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