Rosberg under investigation for yellow flag incident

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The stewards are investigating Nico Rosberg's pole position lap for the Hungarian Grand Prix, over three hours after the end of qualifying.

Rosberg has been called to the stewards regarding his pole position lap after setting the fastest middle sector despite passing double waved yellow flags at Turn 8. Rosberg said he carried out "a big lift" and was confident he would not be penalised, with the stewards not opening an investigation until 19:16 local time.

The investigation is reacting to the "alleged breach of Appendix H, Article 2.4.5.1 b) of the FIA International Sporting Code, failure to slow for yellow flags at 15:54," the stewards note read.

Rosberg must report to the stewards at 19:45 local time with a team representative.

The yellow flags were waving at the end of Q3 as a result of Fernando Alonso's spin at Turn 9. Rosberg approached Turn 8 and found double waved yellows, but the track went green again as he exited the corner, and he went on to set the fastest middle sector of the session.

The championship leader was second fastest at the time of the incident, with team-mate Lewis Hamilton - on provisional pole - having already lifted off.

The relevant part of Appendix H, Article 2.4.5.1 b) of the FIA International Sporting Code reads:

Double waved [yellow flag]: Reduce your speed significantly, do not overtake, and be prepared to change direction or stop. There is a hazard wholly or partly blocking the track and/or marshals working on or beside the track.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.