Sebastian Vettel believes a yellow flag was cancelled at the end of qualifying in order to allow Max Verstappen to complete his final flying lap.
Footage from the end of Q3 appeared to show Verstappen sighting an illuminated yellow flag board as he exited the final corner on his last timed lap. The Red Bull driver is now under investigation for failing to slow sufficiently in response to the signal.Vettel said he was happy with his qualifying performance but believes he could have done better if he hadn’t had to slow down for yellow flags on his final lap.
“I’m pretty happy,” said the Aston Martin driver. “We out-qualified a Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren, so I think we can be happy with that.
“It’s a bit of a shame because I had the yellow flag in the last sector and then the yellow flag cleared, I guess, because Max was coming.”
Vettel doubted he “could have made a huge jump” if he had been able to complete his lap. “It was just a bit disappointing to have the yellow flag.”
Meanwhile, Verstappen improved by a tenth of a second on his final flying lap despite the waved yellows, though not by enough to displace Lewis Hamilton from pole position for tomorrow’s race.
“I don’t know if it was a single yellow or double yellow, but if there’s a car standing on track, then it should be a double yellow – and double yellows are ‘abort the lap’ so I lifted,” Vettel added. “Maybe I was the only one.”
This was the first time that Vettel had reached Q3 in the Aston Martin-Mercedes since the Belgian Grand Prix, where he qualified fifth.
Don't miss anything new from RaceFans
Follow RaceFans on social media:
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
2021 Qatar Grand Prix
- Pirelli’s investigation into Qatar tyre failures indicates kerbs caused punctures
- Horner rejects talk of title fight pressure after criticism over marshal comment
- “I don’t know how much slower I can go”: Inside Ricciardo’s unnecessary economy run
- ‘No regulator in the world will be popular’ with a title fight this intense – Masi
- Why drivers backed Hamilton’s call for clarity after meeting over Verstappen incident
erikje
20th November 2021, 18:22
Strange, the yellow was lifted before max and before him bottas entered the third sector. So there still was a flag/sign active?
OOliver
20th November 2021, 18:32
Safety is taking the championship into consideration also.
Seriously if Vettel’s assumption is correct then there is something seriously wrong with F1 right now.
Horacio
20th November 2021, 19:16
Well, Gasly’s car was still stationary on the main straight when they both completed that lap…
Prateek Saxena
20th November 2021, 19:24
I mean only he knows what he’s trying to imply. My guess is that he’s not trying to say FIA is helping Max, rather FIA wants to keep the championship interesting and not be too nitpicky on safety.
Blakk
21st November 2021, 1:14
i guess one equals another in that case
FIA is helping Max with both hands to get “new champion” and thus will boost interest in the sport, but frankly this looks bad, really bad
Jere (@jerejj)
20th November 2021, 19:33
@erikje Indeed.
I don’t know why people claim they got yellows when clearly they didn’t as obvious from the world feed footage.
Yellows weren’t on while Gasly was stationary beside the pit wall either, although Seb & Alonso voluntarily abandoned their flying laps after the final corner anyway.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
20th November 2021, 20:05
The yellow was briefly withdrawn, reinstated and then withdrawn again.
Mayrton
20th November 2021, 22:14
Why does Vettel state it was lifted? If it was there is an escape for RedBull as apparently there wasn’t a 100% clear situation created by race control
Becken Lima
20th November 2021, 18:31
Interesting subtext here.
Theres is a lot of subleties on Vettel comments here — maybe suggesting that FIA are over protecting Verstappen?
Moi
20th November 2021, 18:37
Subtle? He’s pretty blunt about it tbh
Moshambles (@moshambles)
20th November 2021, 18:47
I don’t think they’re protecting Verstappen per se, but rather not wanting the Championship battle to be interrupted. Which is also wrong, especially around issues of safety. That’s if they did remove the flag like Vettel is suggesting ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Matthew
20th November 2021, 19:11
If they didn’t want it interupted,then why DSQ Lewis and send him to the back of the grid.
OOliver
20th November 2021, 19:42
I guess this valid point will soon get submerged in the sea of narcisistic beliefs.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
20th November 2021, 20:07
It’s coming across as the FIA wanting to decide this championship themselves, rather than letting the actual protagonists decide it. Between this and the sheer length of the championship, the number of face-to-face people I know who follow F1 has dropped from 12 mid-season to 3 now (only 1 of whom believes there’s enough legitimacy in the championship to care who gets the trophy).
Bulgarian (@bulgarian)
20th November 2021, 21:42
FIA is a joke. I will not pay for watching a farce too.
DaveW (@dmw)
20th November 2021, 19:46
I think he is making a wise crack as he is known to do.
Lee1
21st November 2021, 0:23
To be honest, his wise cracks are often based on fact… They are often a dig at someone whether it be a particular driver or the FIA themselves…
If indeed the yellow flags happened to be cancelled just in time for max to make it through and then reinstated then something corrupt it happening
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
21st November 2021, 12:32
Maybe Vettel is the third Merc driver that wants a seat on the main team. The yellow sector cleared up really early before Max came round, possibly because of Max, hopefully it was a glitch with Gasly’s car rolling off the finishing line.
Plossl (@)
20th November 2021, 18:49
And the plot thickens….
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
20th November 2021, 19:07
FIA undoing one hell of a championship…
Cobray (@)
20th November 2021, 21:43
Silverstone opened the can of worms. There is no bottom in this barrel. Whoever has even the slightest of the brain and is not fanatical over a specific driver can see it clear as day.
Boudi
20th November 2021, 21:52
What does Silverstone has to do with the can of worms? Hamilton was penalized there although Max could have avoided the accident if he chose something other than we crash or I stay on top persistent attitude. Hamilton was even predominantly to blame for the incident, many considered it to be a racing incident but not the FIA who are trying to interfere in all possible dirty ways to offer fake entertainment, including delaying their decision on the Mercedes right of review and announcing the same during the Horner/Wolff meeting with the press.
Cobray (@)
20th November 2021, 22:10
Which driver do you support? Just wondering. :)
William
21st November 2021, 0:09
I don’t think its about which Driver he supports but rather why the rules aren’t being applied evenly in a fair and consistent manner. I don’t support any Driver . Just as Vettel felt he was being done wrong ,as a Fan of the Sport I feel the same .
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
21st November 2021, 1:19
@fer-no65 you summed it up perfectly…. They have totally stolen the limelight away from the teams and drivers.
Davethechicken
20th November 2021, 19:09
Staggering considering Seb is Red Bulls only driver world champion. Seb is one of the most respected voices on the grid.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
20th November 2021, 19:53
Red bull only really had the best car in the vettel era, there’s a reason he’s the only red bull wdc.
kpcart
20th November 2021, 22:58
They have had the best car this year.
Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989)
20th November 2021, 23:29
Keep telling that to yourself :)
NoName (@noname)
21st November 2021, 7:21
@tifoso1989 Red Bull has the best car this year, the FIA changed to floor regulation to help Red Bull out and hamper Mercedes but you folks are really blind to facts
David (@nvherman)
21st November 2021, 10:04
@noname Go and compare the results for Bottas and Pérez if you want a true picture, they are the ones who don’t out drive whatever car they’re in (because lets be honest here, both Hamilton and Verstappen are something special, and clearly the best drivers currently competing):
Bottas has outqualified Pérez 15 times out of 20 so far this season.
Bottas has finished ahead of Pérez in every Sprint Qualifying race.
Pérez has been eliminated from qualifying before Q3 on three occasions this season, Bottas never has.
The fastest lap has gone to a Mercedes driver 9 times, a Red Bull driver 6 times.
So, Mercedes can keep claiming that Red Bull have a quicker car, and their fans can keep believing that if they choose, but the statistics don’t back those claims up
David (@nvherman)
21st November 2021, 1:57
If you believe that, you’re clearly not watching the same races. Look at the performance difference in Brazil for example.
kpcart
21st November 2021, 7:22
Interlagos was one race, where Hamilton had a new engine. Look at every race overall. Verstappen could been way further ahead not for tyre failure in Baku, not avoiding a crash in Silverstone and crashing into Hamilton in Monza. Look who still has more poles and wins… it is Redbull’s season to lose, but Mercedes have seemed to found a turn in form for Hamilton’s car with a fresh ICE, and it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if they put another new ICE in these last couple races going by last weekend and yesterday’s qualifying.
NoName (@noname)
21st November 2021, 7:22
@nvherman Red Bull has the best car, i really can’t believe people like you believe otherwise despite the FIA did benefit Red Bull with the floor regulation this year. Get real dude.
Davey
21st November 2021, 8:13
@kpcart yep, Max would have been ahead in that way. But I still wouldn’t call him a champion because I’m one of his backstabbers.
David (@nvherman)
21st November 2021, 10:06
@kpcart I mean sure, you Mercedes/Hamilton fans can keep telling yourself that if you really must believe that they are the underdogs, but you’re only fooling yourselves. As posted in reply to @noname above
Go and compare the results for Bottas and Pérez if you want a true picture, they are the ones who don’t out drive whatever car they’re in (because lets be honest here, both Hamilton and Verstappen are something special, and clearly the best drivers currently competing):
Bottas has outqualified Pérez 15 times out of 20 so far this season.
Bottas has finished ahead of Pérez in every Sprint Qualifying race.
Pérez has been eliminated from qualifying before Q3 on three occasions this season, Bottas never has.
The fastest lap has gone to a Mercedes driver 9 times, a Red Bull driver 6 times.
So, Mercedes can keep claiming that Red Bull have a quicker car, and their fans can keep believing that if they choose, but the statistics don’t back those claims up
Davey
21st November 2021, 8:01
More of a human being.
Jay Menon (@jaymenon10)
20th November 2021, 19:10
One rule for RB another for everyone else??
Masi is obviously an RB fan.
modell
20th November 2021, 19:49
or on there pay roll
mystic one (@mysticus)
21st November 2021, 12:21
Or he bet big on his dog. It def looks like he has a dog in this fight
Abbinator
21st November 2021, 14:57
I think he’s just weak and indecisive. Look at the Spa farce. Never should have been points awarded if there was no actual race.
David (@davidjwest)
20th November 2021, 19:10
The onboard I have seen doesn’t show any yellows, anyone seen any?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0Gy4HbICgA
anon
20th November 2021, 19:15
@davidjwest look at the marshal post on the left hand side of the circuit, just after the DRS activation marker – that is where there is a marshal waiving double yellow flags.
David (@davidjwest)
20th November 2021, 19:22
Ah yes, well spotted. Slam dunk then, say hi!
Arnoud van Houwelingen (@kavu)
20th November 2021, 20:59
David was looking for a yellow flag and even he didn’t see it at first glance. On the other side of the track you can see that the lights are green and not yellow and now yellow lights on Max his steering wheel.
Plossl (@)
20th November 2021, 19:17
Look at the marshals post on the left just after the DRS sign.
Horacio
20th November 2021, 19:25
At 0:08 it is VERY clear a yellow flag being shown on the left side.
Arnoud van Houwelingen (@kavu)
20th November 2021, 21:01
It is also very clear that the lights on the other side of the track were green and not yellow and no yellow lights on his steering wheel.
Boudi
20th November 2021, 21:54
Huh? These green lights are for pit entry not for the race track
Horacio
20th November 2021, 22:27
@kavu The green blinking lights on the right are for the pit entry. They are also very odd as Gasly’s car was stationary in there……..
William Stuart (@williamstuart)
21st November 2021, 0:22
@kavu This is embarrassing
Andy (@andyfromsandy)
21st November 2021, 10:53
I don’t think the electronics have to match. There will be some delay after a marshal has spotted something and started waving flags.
John H (@john-h)
20th November 2021, 19:20
“Let them race” (even through yellows).
mystic one (@mysticus)
21st November 2021, 12:23
Let max race or no one else should. More likely…
David (@davidjwest)
20th November 2021, 19:24
What’s the minimum penalty for this, 3 grid places?
Plossl (@)
20th November 2021, 19:46
Max gets Pole?
modell
20th November 2021, 19:51
I place grid penalty so he starts on clean side off track
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
20th November 2021, 20:08
The standard penalty is 3 spots, which also grants a start on the clean side of the grid.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
20th November 2021, 20:09
(Unless Bottas gets pinged as well, then Verstappen may only lose 2 spots, which paradoxically might be worse for him than a 3-spot penalty this time due to the dirty track).
David (@davidjwest)
20th November 2021, 19:25
Gasly front row start!
Jere (@jerejj)
20th November 2021, 20:34
@davidjwest LOL. He’s the one who should get penalized if anyone, given he caused this whole entirely avoidable mess by deliberately staying on track with damage instead of pitting despite having enough time for this, given he hadn’t reached the entry yet. Inexcusable behavior by him, even slightly unsportsmanlike.
Drivers should always use the earliest possible opportunity for entering pit lane, or pit in general, when driving a damaged car or about to DNF, if they haven’t passed the entry yet/are already close, full stop.
Jockey Ewing
20th November 2021, 21:06
Yes, when I saw the first replay of Gasly’s puncture I was wondering why he ended up on the main straight instead of pitting. From the replay it looked like to me, that maybe he not realised soon enough that he has a puncture or bigger damage, and as it happened close to the pit entry his speed was still too high to safely enter the pits. But I have not replayed it enough times to be sure of it. Now rewatched once more, and it seems unlcuky, and hard to react as he was close to the pit entry.
At formula1.com now there is an onboard replay, I see the first pieces of the tyre flying aroung at 0:21, at 0:22 he continues to drive an “usual” line and speed I guess (in the opposite direction of the pit entry), and by 0:23 he already passed the pit entry. I am a bit slowie, so I could not react properly to this form this speed and direcion within something like 1 seconds, if we consider a reaction time of 1 second in the case of unpredictable and rare events. They are faster than me, but I guess it happened too qucikly.
Jockey Ewing
20th November 2021, 21:08
Haha nice typo fest by me :)
grat
21st November 2021, 2:33
I kind of like IndyCar’s rules on this… in qualifying, if you bring out a yellow, your fastest time is deleted. If you bring it out in the “Fast 6” (Q3), all your times are deleted, and you start 6th. If you bring out a red flag, your best two times are deleted.
Speaking of lap times being deleted, I thought anyone in the same sector as double-waved yellows gets their lap time deleted automatically..?
DaveW (@dmw)
20th November 2021, 19:28
This is huge because I think no one really expected Either Hamilton or verstappen to finish lower than 2nd. Bottas won’t get more of a drop than him and there is no Perez there to give way.
David (@davidjwest)
20th November 2021, 19:48
I’d expect Max to get through the field without too much trouble by the end but it does mean another win for Hamilton most likely so he will close that gap for the title.
What’s the Red Bulls speed like on the straight?
OOliver
20th November 2021, 19:50
Before or after they are allowed to modify I mean repiar their wings after qualifying?
Jere (@jerejj)
20th November 2021, 20:36
@davidjwest QLF maximum speeds at speed trap for Mercedes & RBR drivers:
HAM 323.9 kph
BOT 322.3
PER 320.7
VER 320.5
David (@davidjwest)
20th November 2021, 22:41
Thanks, similar to Brazil then, DRS will more than compensate for that.
OOliver
20th November 2021, 19:48
I have found a solution for the Stewards.
It was a green flag waving but filmed through red filters.
Else it’s that they can’t find the marshall who waved the flag.
Andy (@andyfromsandy)
20th November 2021, 20:09
So the rule of just having the lap time deleted as it will still allow for Max to keep P2.
I believe however part of the double yellow flag rule is a driver should not improve his lap time.
OOliver
20th November 2021, 20:22
What about the safety argument. The directive was automatically abandon the lap. They didn’t talk about erasing laps because it was assumed drivers would automatically abort their laps.
grat
21st November 2021, 2:35
The Race Director’s Event Notes (vers. 4), specifically states that all competitors in a double waved yellow sector will have their times deleted. It’s the same section that Verstappen was cited as breaking in the summons to the steward’s office tomorrow.
Andy (@andyfromsandy)
21st November 2021, 10:57
By aborting the lap or having the lap deleted still leaves Max in P2. It just remains if the stewards actually think he deserves a penalty of some sort. The same applies to Valtteri and Carlos.
DonSmee (@david-beau)
20th November 2021, 20:17
The light boards are controlled by the race director’s office.
The Marshalls wave their flags according to strict guide lines and will only retract their flags if told to do so.
It seemed to me that whoever was controlling the lightboards wanted to path the red sea to get Max to complete his lap.
Bagaman
20th November 2021, 20:28
Formule one is slowly becoming a joke under Masi’s watch.
Simon
20th November 2021, 21:42
@Bagaman
You’re absolutely correct on this
Daniel
20th November 2021, 23:36
True!
Joe
20th November 2021, 21:57
Agreed, I would even say, fast becoming…
SPIDERmaN (@spiderman)
20th November 2021, 22:23
i totally agree this massi is a mess.. an amateur at most who is in redbulls payroll it seems.
charlie whitting rip could not let such farcical officiating ..though he was not a paragon himself..
grat
21st November 2021, 2:35
Slowly?
Davey
21st November 2021, 8:10
Totally! Never forget Baku 2021.
mystic one (@mysticus)
21st November 2021, 12:29
I think it is time Ross brown takes the charge. I can’t see anyone else suitable for the job, he has been to so many teams and he s engineer too, he doesn’t need any excuse and crap for decisions.
ttongsul (@ccpbioweapon)
20th November 2021, 20:35
Nothing to see here, removing yellows so Max does not get a penalty is normal(!)
Its beyond doubt now that Max is given preferential treatment by the FIA
I think someone at the FIA (as well as david croft) has got a huge wager on Max to win the title and doing everything possible for him to win.
Why else is Wunderkind Max protected like this?
SPIDERmaN (@spiderman)
20th November 2021, 22:26
agreed even the punditry on live tv is skewd…they refuse to tell it as it is and create doubts in the stewarding, and i hate this radio interjection by HONER all the time during the race with David croft
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
20th November 2021, 20:48
Should have remained double yellow or even red. Gasly tore off his wing on the high speed corner. Debris was everywhere so that was a safety issue. And his car was stopped off the racing but still stopped on the track so if some picked up debris and spun he was at risk.
Bulgarian (@bulgarian)
20th November 2021, 21:39
FIA has become a Farce In Autosport.
Jakefromstatefarm
20th November 2021, 21:57
I’m pretty sure Sebastian was joking when he said this and people are just taking his sarcasm too seriously.
Palindnilap (@palindnilap)
20th November 2021, 22:20
Easy decision. 5 places grid drop for Bottas for ignoring single yellows, no penalty for Verstappen because it was a mistake that the double yellows were shown to him in the first place, they were meant for the other drivers.
kpcart
21st November 2021, 7:24
Maybe the team told him to stop immediately to not further damage the car?
kpcart
21st November 2021, 7:25
That was to an above post asking why gasly stopped on straight
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
21st November 2021, 8:11
Considering decissions last two weeks, it seems FIA and Liberty media have decided it is in F1 intrest to have a new champion.
Mercedes and Lewis are booring and old.
Offcorse personally I want racing to happen on the track, with two cars of roughly equal performance and drivers who are equally matched.
But those are entertainment goals.
Sporting regulations should ensure atleast some fairness and decent level of safety.
Maybe it would be best to just delete laptime if driver passes a Double Yellow.
Davey
21st November 2021, 8:13
Well, this is an inside job…
Sonny Crockett (@sonnycrockett)
21st November 2021, 9:48
It’s OK, F1 will make whatever decision is *correct.
[*Please note that F1 deems the ‘correct’ decision to be whatever takes the championship to the final round and/or hands the challenger an advantage over the incumbent champion.]
ian dearing
21st November 2021, 12:22
Bottas 3 place grid drop