Russell handed five-spot grid drop for double yellow flag violation!

George Russell has been handed a five-spot grid drop by the British Grand Prix stewards for failing to slow for a double yellow flag signal in qualifying.

The caution was ironically brought about in Q1 by a spin by his teammate Nicholas Latifi.

Russell said he saw the yellow flag and lifted accordingly, but obviously not enough according to the stweards.

"I saw the yellow flag, I lifted, I felt like I was completely in control of the car," said the Briton before the stewards investigation.

"The driver, Russell, explained to the stewards that he only saw the double yellow flag signal at turn seven in his peripheral vision and believed it was just a single yellow," the stewards stated.

• 2020 British Grand Prix - Qualifying results

"He lifted slightly earlier than he had on his previous lap, but his speed was not “significantly” slower than previous laps, although he explained that he was in full control of the car and felt that he would have been able to take avoiding action if needed; and further that he was at a similar speed because he was on a faster lap overall."

The stewards were also critical of the Williams pitwall which failed to tell Russell to abort his lap.

"The Stewards reviewed the team radio and noted that the team warned him that a yellow was ahead. They did not specify that it was a double yellow flag.

"Further, they did not advise him that he needed to abort the lap, following the Race Director’s notes in this regard that he should not be able to set a meaningful lap time. This was, in fact, his
fastest lap of Q1."

Russell will line up last on tomorrow's grid, but the Williams charger was also given three penalty points on his licence.

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