Lewis Hamilton retains his third-place finish at the British Grand Prix despite a yellow-flag infraction and receives only a warning
Lewis Hamilton is allowed to keep his podium finish at the British Grand Prix. Although the FIA stewards issued the Ferrari driver a warning after the race for a yellow-flag violation, they did not impose a time penalty. Hamilton thus remains in third place behind his victorious teammate Charles Leclerc and Mercedes driver George Russell.
The incident under investigation occurred on lap 38. After Nico Hülkenberg’s Audi came to a stop in Turn 9, a single-yellow phase was in effect for that section of the track. Race control accused Hamilton of failing to slow down sufficiently in that area.
However, the stewards’ analysis revealed that the situation was significantly more complicated than initially assumed.
The yellow flag did not appear until the middle of the sector
After reviewing all video footage, telemetry data, marshaling systems, and onboard cameras, the race stewards concluded that Hamilton had already entered the affected section of the track before any yellow flag or corresponding light signal had even been activated.
“Hamilton entered the relevant sector before any yellow flag or yellow light panel was displayed,” the ruling states. The first light panel Hamilton passed after Turn 9 was initially still green.
It was only when the Ferrari driver was already on the straight heading toward Turn 10—and had practically left the yellow-flag zone behind—that the warning appeared on his steering wheel display. In the stewards’ view, this left Hamilton with very little time to react to the situation at all.
Battle with Verstappen Played a Decisive Role
To make matters worse, Hamilton had been involved in an intense battle with Max Verstappen immediately beforehand. The stewards explicitly took into account that Hamilton was expecting a direct counterattack from the Red Bull driver following his passing maneuver.
That is why his attention initially remained focused on the rearview mirrors. “For understandable reasons, his attention was primarily on the mirrors and not immediately on the green light panel at the end of the sector.”
From the race commissioners’ perspective, this circumstance also argued against a harsh penalty.
Hamilton was not entirely without fault, however
However, the stewards did not completely exonerate the Ferrari driver. After the yellow warning appeared on the steering wheel and, shortly thereafter, the green light panel marked the end of the danger zone, Hamilton should have at least noticeably reduced his speed.
However, the race stewards were unable to determine exactly that based on the telemetry data. “Hamilton did not reduce his speed in a noticeable manner and thus did not fully comply with the requirements of a standard yellow flag.”
This constituted a violation of Article B1.8.4(a) of the FIA Formula 1 Regulations.
Why it resulted in only a warning
When determining the penalty, however, the stewards took all mitigating circumstances into account. Hamilton had already reached that section of the track before the yellow phase was activated; the warning appeared only shortly before the end of the sector; the reaction time was extremely tight; and his attention was understandably elsewhere due to the battle that had taken place immediately beforehand.
“Under these circumstances, the stewards considered a warning to be the appropriate penalty.” This is Hamilton’s first driving warning of the season.
The decision therefore has no impact on the race result. Hamilton retains his third-place finish behind Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc and George Russell. The Mercedes driver had overtaken the Ferrari in the closing stages after Hamilton pitted for a tire change during a late safety car period, while Russell remained on track and thus took the position.
The race had ended behind the safety car following an accident involving Max Verstappen at Stowe. In addition, both Hamilton and Russell benefited from the late retirement of Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who had been leading the championship until then.