FIA explain Max Verstappen yellow flag confusion

Verstappen after qualifying in Qatar — Photo: © LAT Images

Qatar Grand Prix

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FIA explain Verstappen yellow-flag confusion

Verstappen was hit with a five-place grid penalty for ignoring double-yellows on Saturday

Sam Hall

Tuesday 23 November 2021 09:30 Updated: 10:28

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FIA race director Michael Masi has explained "local officials" were responsible for displaying yellow flags after Max Verstappen was hit by a five-place penalty in Qatar Grand Prix qualifying.

After Pierre Gasly suffered a front wing failure and resulting puncture at the close of Q3 on Saturday, single yellow flags were displayed before briefly being rescinded with double-waved yellows following shortly after.

In the confusion, Valtteri Bottas was handed a three-place drop for ignoring single-yellows with Verstappen penalised for a double-yellow breach where drivers should slow and be prepared to stop.

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After team principal Christian Horner described the marshal displaying double-yellows as a "rogue marshal", comments for which he received an official FIA warning, Masi attempted to clear up any confusion.

“With all yellow flags that are displayed, they are displayed from trackside," explained Masi.

"They are in the hands of the officials' control as they are at every venue in any form of the sport anywhere and if they deem that it is a single or a double, it is up to those officials to determine that.

“They judge what they see before them so that is why they are there.

"Since the inception of the light panels, the yellow flags, white flags, blue flags during practice and qualifying…effectively, the things that aren’t operated by the local official are either the safety car, which is centrally controlled, VSC [virtual safety car], which is centrally controlled, and red flags, as in red flags on the light panels.

“Those three things are centrally controlled. Everything else is for the local officials to operate.”

Confirming he had watched footage from all cars lapping at the time of Gasly's incident, Masi added the delay in the decision-making process was largely down to the time zone the sport was operating in.

“Once we finally got to it, we determined who had done what and what was displayed and what wasn’t displayed and so forth, then reported those to the stewards and obviously, they sent out their summons," said Masi.

“You’ve also got to think about offset time frames and everything else that you haven’t taken into account in the timeframe when people are available and so forth and when people get here and curfews.

“The curfew covers off at this venue, it didn’t end until 12 [noon – 9 am UK], so when people are due to get here and all the rest of it comes into the timing.”