Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has doubts as to whether Nico Rosberg lifted enough under yellows on the lap that elevated the Mercedes driver to pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Rosberg set a new fastest time on his last run in Q3 despite McLaren-Honda's Fernando Alonso spinning and triggering double yellow flags between Turn 5/6 and Turn 8.
The incident effectively ruined Lewis Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo’s final attempts, with Horner left puzzled at how the championship leader, who admittedly arrived later than his rivals at the scene of the incident, still managed to improve his mark.
“One thing I couldn't understand which I need to check is Rosberg was behind Daniel, and managed to get a purple middle sector. I don't know if they had it cleared by the time he got there…,” he told Sky Sports F1.
Speaking in the FIA post-qualifying press conference, Rosberg insisted he had “a very big lift” on his pole lap. When his words were reported to Horner, the Red Bull team boss added: “With that sort of lap time? That's down to the stewards to decide.”
Also talking to Sky, Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff backed his driver in saying that the team's data shows Rosberg slowed down enough in the sector under yellows.
“[Nico] had a big lift into the yellow zone, lost quite some time. But then at the end, the yellow zone was gone. It should be OK from our data.”
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