Lewis Hamilton has kept his front row position for Sunday’s Valencia grand prix, despite a stewards inquiry after qualifying.
Nico Rosberg and Mercedes complained bitterly that the McLaren driver held him up on Rosberg’s crucial last dash in Q3.
“Lewis was driving extremely slowly all of a sudden,” said Rosberg. “It’s just a very dangerous situation, and that’s what the rule is there for.”
He is referring to an agreement reached in the pre-event drivers’ briefing about competitors not slowing down in the tricky final sector whilst preparing for their qualifying hot laps. The stewards investigated Mercedes’ complaint by using video, audio, GPS and telemetry evidence, and announced in a statement they decided to take “no further action”.
The statement explained that Hamilton was “actually faster” in the last sector than Rosberg had been on a previous lap, which indicated that the McLaren “was not being driven unnecessarily slowly”. The F1 driver steward this weekend is former Sauber and Ferrari racer Mika Salo.
Source:GMM
