An already exciting qualifying session in Austria took an unexpected turn in the closing seconds when Max Verstappen went spinning at the penultimate corner on his final lap.
The Dutchman bounced over the gravel trap before impacting the tire wall. Not only was the Red Bull driver out of pole contention, but so too it seemed were Mercedes drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli. They were just behind and trying to finish their final laps — now ruined by the crash in front of them.
For a few seconds, it looked as though we were going to have a surprise front row in the form of Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton — but then Russell shot to the top of the screens. Antonelli, in contrast, aborted his lap and thus never improved on his earlier time, stranding him in fourth place.
It seemed inconceivable that Russell could have passed a crash zone and yet still legally gone fast enough to secure pole. But he had, and a quick investigation by the FIA duly confirmed that the lap was legitimate, and the pole time stood.
Meanwhile, Antonelli was left kicking himself for what he conceded was a mistake after he had topped the times for most of the weekend.
Single vs. Double Yellow: What the Rules Say
Under F1 regulations, there is a clear distinction between a single waved yellow flag — either a physical one or the light panel version — and the double yellow for more serious incidents.
If it’s a single, you have to demonstrate to the stewards that you have acknowledged its presence by lifting, something that will be clear in the data. In qualifying, you are free to carry on and complete the lap, as long as you have lifted.
If it’s a double, any laps by drivers that pass through it are automatically deleted, and thus everyone knows that they should just abort.
Max Verstappen’s Turn 9 crash at the Red Bull Ring. Clive Rose // Getty Images
In a free practice session, the Verstappen crash would have generated an instant red flag, but in qualifying, the race director tries to do the right thing and keep the action going if it’s safe to do so, and allow drivers to complete their laps.
It’s worth noting that there is a scenario where a driver already on pole can ruin the final laps of others by deliberately triggering a yellow or red flag. That wasn’t the case here, but it helps to explain why there’s a desire not to stop the action.
Race control determined that Verstappen was far off the track at a place with plenty of run-off, and given that initially no marshals had climbed over the barrier, a single yellow was deemed sufficient for the first 15–20 seconds — which is when the Mercedes drivers went by. It then switched to a double.
The unusual and impressive aspect is that Russell gave up some lap time and yet was still fast enough to pip the Ferraris to pole — something that says a lot about the pace of the Mercedes in qualifying trim.
Russell’s Read of the Situation
“It’s a corner where you can see quite a lot,” Russell said. “And I just did a huge lift, and I was going to assess the situation as soon as I got to the corner, if the car was there. But as it was a single yellow, I was pretty confident there was no danger. And as soon as I turned into the corner, I already saw the green up ahead, and I actually thought the car had continued, because I didn’t see the car at all. It was so far off the track, I didn’t see the car whatsoever. It was only when I saw the replay afterwards I saw it was well off into the wall. So yeah, I was glad common sense prevailed there.”
The key, as he explained later, was the light panel: “It’s pretty clear in the regulations — a single yellow means there is an incident, but a double yellow is very much ‘be prepared to stop, and there’s clear danger ahead.’ The double yellow is the diagonal yellow flickering, and the single is the solid.”
It was a piece of savvy, quick thinking by the GPDA director. In contrast, his teammate, in the few seconds he had to make a decision, thought it was a double yellow and abandoned the lap.
Antonelli’s Costly Misread
“I saw double yellow,” said Antonelli when asked by Road & Track about what had transpired. “Probably was my mistake, but yeah, I aborted the lap, and that was it. So, my mistake on just execution. I heard ‘yellow, yellow,’ on the radio, but the thing is I was looking at the marshals, and probably — I don’t know — I saw wrong, and I just saw two flags instead of one, and I aborted.”
“Also, it was hard to see,” Antonelli added. “Because there was the sun in the face, and I looked at the marshal because I think the panel went yellow, but of course you don’t know if it’s a single or double. So I looked at the marshal, and it was hard to see, and I just saw double yellow instead of one, and I just aborted completely.”
Antonelli also questioned whether a single yellow was even the correct call given the nature of the corner. “For sure, there was a car in the wall in a fast corner, so I think in this situation, I don’t know why it didn’t go double yellow straight away, because it’s a super quick corner, and if you go off at the same time it can end up very badly. For sure, it is something that needs to be reviewed, especially when it happens in a high-speed corner. If it’s a slow speed, still single yellow can be okay, but a fast corner it should be double yellow straight away.”
Verstappen himself expressed similar sentiments, suggesting that it was “quite crazy” that his crash hadn’t generated a double yellow.
McLaren’s Take
Having reviewed the data, McLaren boss Andrea Stella acknowledged that Russell had lifted and done enough to satisfy the FIA.
He also paid the Mercedes driver quite a compliment for pulling it off so well. “For what I saw from the GPS overlays, I think Russell has done a good job of executing a lift,” he said. “I can only see that the speed reduces before braking, losing a little bit of time through corner nine, at the same time losing little enough to actually be in pole position. I think we have to recognize that while drivers are incredibly able and good in executing the standard driving, sometimes they are also good at executing some maneuvers that may be required under a yellow flag, and may give you justification and a rationale that the stewards can interpret like they did.”
Russell’s pole ultimately came down to a split-second combination of regulatory knowledge, situational awareness, and raw pace — qualities that left his teammate and rivals with little ground for complaint.
