02/07/2016
NEWS STORY
Jolyon Palmer, Felipe Nasr and Rio Haryanto have all been handed grid penalties for tomorrow's race.
All three were deemed to have failed to slow for the double yellow flags that were shown shortly after the re-start of Q1, when Carlos Sainz ground to a halt with what is thought to have been an electrical issue.
The re-start had seen a flurry of activity, with a dozen cars on track desperately trying, in the 104 seconds remaining, to make it through to Q2.
In all three cases, the stewards deemed the telemetry clearly showed the drivers made no reduction in speed and were at full acceleration through the yellow flag area.
"Notwithstanding the fact the drivers could see the disabled car of Sainz on the side of the track, the regulations are clear that on display of double yellow flags a significant reduction in speed must be made," said the stewards. "This did not happen in all three cases."
Each of the three drivers was handed a three-place grid penalty and two penalty points applied to their licence, Palmer's first of the year, Nasr's fourth and Haryanto's fourth.
Although all three had breached Appendix H, Article 2.4.5.1 b) of the international Sporting Code, the stewards noted that Nasr and Haryanto were both "open and honest" in their acknowledgement of the breach.
The stewards also noted that "there appears to be a lack of understanding of the requirement for a significant reduction in speed where double yellow flags are displayed and that drivers should not assume that what is in their field of vision is the only hazard to which the flags refer".
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