Official: Hamilton penalized for yellow flag incident
After Red Bull requested the FIA to review yesterday's incident involving Lewis Hamilton, the governing body has confirmed that the Briton will start P5 for the Austrian Grand Prix.
Following yesterday's qualifying session, Hamilton stood accused of failing to slow down efficiently when yellow flags were triggered after his team-mate Valtteri Bottas left the track on his last flying lap in Q3. Despite investigations of the incident, the stewards decided not to impose a penalty because of conflicting signals from the marshals.
Just an hour before the start of the race, Red Bull made a request, asking the governing body to review yesterday's yellow flag incident. In a statement, the FIA stewards have communicated that Red Bull could present new video evidence.
"Following a petition to review decision 33 taken after Qualifying, the Stewards acknowledged that the on-board footage of car 44 represents a significant new element (see decision 41) that had not been available to the Stewards in the hearing on Saturday and therefore reviewed the case."
"The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 44 (Lewis Hamilton) and the team representative and have reviewed the new video evidence and telemetry evidences. The new video footage clearly shows that a yellow light panel was flashing on the left side of the track in turn 5. A green ight panel was flashing at the end of marshalling sector 9. Taking into account these facts, the Stewards determine that decision 33 will be reversed and the above mentioned penalty is being imposed."
The decision means that Verstappen will be promoted to second while Lando Norris and Alxander Albon will also gain a place on the starting grid.
