Lance Stroll will start the Turkish Grand Prix from pole position after avoiding a penalty for failing to slow for yellow flags at the end of qualifying.
Stroll claimed a shock first F1 pole position on Saturday in wet conditions at Istanbul Park. Shortly after celebrating with his team the Canadian driver was summoned to the stewards for « allegedly non-respecting yellow flags at 16:48 at Turn 7. »
Stroll had appeared to improve his lap time while passing Racing Point teammate Sergio Perez, who had spun and prompted yellow flags to be waved at Turn 7. However, the stewards were satisfied that was misleading as the track conditions were drastically improving in the closing minutes.
The verdict said: « The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 18 (Lance Stroll), the team representative and reviewed video, telemetry and marshalling system evidence. Car 18 approached turn 7 with a single yellow flag showing for the sector due to Car 11 (Sergio Perez) off track on the outside of the corner.
« By telemetry, Car 18 clearly came off the throttle, coasted into the corner, and then accelerated when clear of the incident. Sector times do not clearly show this as the track was rapidly drying and each lap was quicker than the preceding lap. »
Stroll will start ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Championship leader Lewis Hamilton, who can win the title if he finishes within eight points of Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas, starts sixth. Bottas will start from ninth position.
Lando Norris was penalised for an infraction under yellow flags in Q1. The McLaren driver will drop five places for failing to slow for double-waved yellow flags after Nicholas Latifi spun out of the opening session — the double-waved yellow being the key distinction in his case compared to Stroll’s.
Norris’ McLaren teammate Carlos Sainz was also served a three-place grid penalty for impeding Sergio Perez in Q1.
https://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/30315867/stroll-avoids-penalty-keeps-turkish-gp-pole-position
