Kimi Antonelli qualified fourth on the road at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix but faced a stewards’ investigation, accused of overtaking others during qualifying when it was not allowed
Kimi Antonelli has avoided a grid penalty after he was accused of overtaking other cars under yellow flag conditions. The incident happened during qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which saw no fewer than six stoppages and took two hours to complete as chaos erupted.
But the incident for which Antonelli was under investigation happened before any of that, just four minutes into the session. He was investigated for apparently overtaking two other cars during a very brief yellow flag in the first sector of the track.
While the stewards found that he did indeed do so, the mitigating circumstances in the case saw them hand the teenager only a reduced punishment of an official reprimand. Antonelli qualified fourth and, now he has been cleared, will be free to start Sunday’s race from the second row.
Explaining their decision, the stewards wrote: “The driver of Car 12 [Antonelli] was not shown a yellow flag or yellow light panel, however his dash did very briefly display a yellow indication which then disappeared.
“The driver passed two cars then the team advised him to abandon the lap as there was concern that perhaps there was a double yellow flag condition (when in fact there was not). The driver then abandoned the lap. No sporting advantage was gained. In view of the mitigating circumstances and consistent with previous similar incidents, a reduced penalty of a reprimand is imposed.”
By qualifying fourth, Antonelli out-performed team-mate George Russell for only the second time this season in a Grand Prix qualifying session. The Brit will line up fifth behind him at the start of the race, putting Mercedes in a strong position to score a good haul of points.
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Antonelli was not the only driver who escaped punishment despite being accused of overtaking when it is prohibited on Saturday. Nico Hulkenberg was also investigated for passing Lewis Hamilton under yellow flags during practice earlier in the day.
But the stewards decided to apply no penalty at all to the Sauber driver and said: “Car 44 [Hamilton] ran off at turn one. A yellow flag was waived at turn one as Car 27 [Hulkenberg] approached. After the turn, Car 27 overtook Car 44, which was travelling at a significantly slower speed than Car 27, prior to the green light displayed between turns one and two.
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“This all occurred after the chequered flag had been displayed. The driver of Car 27 advised that he could not see the yellow flag because it was displayed after he began turning into the apex of turn one.
“He then could not see the green panel because it was obstructed by Car 44 in front so he had no idea until he passed Car 44 that he was in a yellow flag area. Technically, this was a breach of the regulations however in view of the mitigating circumstances outlined above, the stewards determine to apply no penalty.”
