Hamilton and Perez demoted on the starting grid in India
The Briton and the Mexican receive a three-place grid penalty for not respecting the yellow flag displayed at the end of the session on Friday morning.
Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez have been handed a three-place grid penalty for the Indian Grand Prix, scheduled for this Sunday, at the brand new Buddh circuit near New Delhi. The McLaren driver and his counterpart from Sauber did not respect the yellow flag waved at the end of the first practice session to allow track marshals to clear Pastor Maldonado’s Williams, which had stopped at the side of the track approaching the final corner with a broken engine.
The two drivers who did not slow down sufficiently under the yellow flag regime thus seized the opportunity to make, within a few seconds, a final attempt during which the Briton, in particular, claimed the best time of the session.
Lewis Hamilton will therefore not be able to repeat his feat in South Korea, where he achieved the only pole position that escaped a Red Bull driver this season, and he will start, at best, in fourth position.
Note that following the accident for which he was deemed responsible by the stewards in South Korea, Vitaly Petrov will also be demoted five positions on the starting grid on Sunday.
