In the press conference given by Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Daniel Ricciardo after the Hungarian Grand Prix, the journalist Dieter Rencken brought up the request to the commissioners for clarification of the regulations in relation to the double yellow flags by the current leader of the championship. Lewis Hamilton insisted that the regulation requires the pilot to considerably reduce the speed and prepare to stop if necessary, but finds that his partner in the Mercedes did not, in spite of which he escaped the penalty.
The regulation specifies that “a single yellow flag waved warning to the pilots to reduce, while two yellow flags wavy in the same position mean that the drivers should slow and prepare to stop if necessary”. Lewis Hamilton believes Nico Rosberg did not do such a thing and think that they are giving bad example to the young pilots and feel a dangerous precedent for the upcoming races.
“The commissioners need to come to some kind of solution
because it is… in my 23 years of competition, has been ‘ if there is
yellow flag, you will reduce’, and ‘if there are double yellow flag, you must
prepare to stop’ and Nico drove the same speed at the apex
(of the curve) that I wore on the timed lap earlier. If
a car had spun or a commissioner you were in the
track, would have been very complicated for him to reduce in that case.”
“The fact that he has not been penalized by this means
you need to be careful because the message that we are
sending, not only to the pilots here (in Formula 1), but
lower categories is that now it is possible to lose just a
tenth of a second on a section of double yellow flag that is
the most dangerous thing -one of the scenarios more dangerous. (The
commissioners) need to clarify it, because before they were two-tenths the
that ‘stand’ with a yellow flag and a half-second with double
yellow flag. It was not the case yesterday (Saturday
classification) and there was no penalty, so that in the next
race, we would be battling for pole position and see a
double yellow flag”.
“And we know that we only have to slightly reduce and lose
a tenth of a second and everything will be fine and we will go for the purple
in the sector (the color mark the best partial
absolute the monitors at times). That is why it is so
needs to be clarified and I am sure that Charlie (Whiting) and
the commissioners are going to do it, because you need to be clear”.
on Saturday, after qualifying, Lewis Hamilton came to remember the case of Pastor Maldonado in Monaco during his participation in the World Series. The pilot venezuelan ignored the yellow flags that were waving a crashed car, lost control and hit a commissioner, causing injuries. The Automobile Club of Monaco, he signed for life, even if external pressures have reduced the sanction to four events of the championship.
“We have seen so many incidents in the past. I remember
Maldonado, who was on the verge of hitting a commissioner in Monaco
because it’s not reduced enough and there was a steward at the track.”
Time of the press conference in which Hamilton gives his opinion and Rosberg, visibly upset, he responds.
, Nico Rosberg he also wanted to give his point of view, not without feeling somewhat upset by the comments by his team-mate. The German pilot argues that reduced the speed enough, and that was what convinced the commissioners that it was not from any sanction.
“¿can I respond? Thank you very much. Thank you for doing that
statement, so now I’m going to respond. What you have to do
double yellow flag is to reduce the speed and make sure
do it with security. I Went 20 km/h slower on that curve, 20 km/h
it’s a different world in a Formula 1 car. 20 Km/h is a
appropriate reduction. It is completely… it is safe. It is as well as what
I did and I slowed down to 30 meters before my braking, just
I passed by there, 20 km/h slower until I got the vertex.
Then, obviously, when you’re at the top, I would have liked
having drawn tighter because it was slow and then I could
up again”.
“So, definitely, I slowed down significantly the
speed, that is what it says it does lack, and what
that, for the commissioners, was fully accepted. it Was very obvious
what I did, very clear and, of course, on a track that is
drying you’re clearly faster on each lap. It is not as in
a track stable. On a track that is drying out, it is irrelevant
the time that brands in a sector because you’re going a lot more
fast on every lap because there are patches of wet and, when dry,
you’re so much faster”.
“In that section, I was slower, where was the flag
yellow, but obviously in the sector as a whole, yes, I was more
quick because the track was becoming faster and I pushed in the
rest of the curves. It was a clear case to the commissioners and is so
I had no penalty”.
When Lewis Hamilton passes through the curve, Fernando Alonso is still standing on the track. When Nico Rosberg arrived at the place of the event, the spaniard has already resumed the march, but the double yellow flags are still waving.
Daniel Ricciardo, also present as the third ranked of the race, was somewhat more diplomatic, but is positioned next to Lewis Hamilton, claiming in addition that you discuss the situation to avoid problems in the future.
“I Think
that, at least in essence, was the situation of
yesterday or not, Lewis gave with it. Is something that we probably have
wanted to discuss for quite some time or quantify, because with
a yellow flag, people will go and shows to the commissioners, who did
a micro-reduction , ‘I cut’ when it really didn’t.”
“But
a double yellow is significant, it is a great risk on the track,
perhaps, and in my case, Fernando was still at the apex, which points
to us in line, so I had no choice but
obviously, taking
on account of the double yellow flags before that, you’re
blind, so I was willing to drastically reduce, I guess.
I Think that with a double-yellow flag is very different with respect to a
single yellow flag, and I think that is why we are not very satisfied
with what happened”.
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