Romain Grosjean and Jolyon Palmer penalized for speeding under yellows
Romain Grosjean and Jolyon Palmer will start the Chinese GP from the back of the grid after both men were penalized for not slowing sufficiently under yellow flags.
Both were caught out at the end of Q1 when Antonio Giovinazzi crashed at the final corner. Neither had made it through at that stage, so they finished their respective laps having lifted off the throttle by an amount that they thought would be sufficient. They still didn’t go fast enough to make Q2, earning 17th and 18th.
In a subsequent investigation the stewards determined that in both cases “the driver attempted to set a meaningful lap time after passing through a double-waved yellow marshalling sector, contrary to the requirements set out in the Race Director’s Event Notes,” and they also “took into consideration that the driver made no attempt to significantly reduce his speed in the area of a double-waved yellow flag.”
They were each given five-place penalties, dropping them to 19th and 20th, as well three penalty points on their licenses.
Palmer explained: “On the first run we had quite low front tire temps and I locked up in Turn 6 and flat-spotted so I didn’t do a proper time. The second one I was on to cruise through to Q2 but I didn’t complete the lap because of Giovinazzi. We can see from the times that it would have been very comfortable to get through. I completed the lap, I just backed off. It’s clear that I back off a lot. It’s up to an interpretation of how much you’re backing off.”
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