In the 2023 F1 Mexican GP qualifying session, Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, and George Russell managed to avoid penalties.
Verstappen, a three-time world champion, and Mercedes driver Russell faced scrutiny for potential pit lane violations, while Hamilton was under investigation for not adhering to a yellow flag during the session.
However, none of them received penalties as the stewards determined that Hamilton, a seven-time world champion, had slowed down sufficiently in response to the yellow flag displayed for Fernando Alonso.
Additionally, the stewards concluded that Verstappen and Russell did not create an “unnecessarily dangerous” situation during their pit lane activities and were simply trying to find a suitable gap. According to The Race, the stewards elaborated on their decision:
“The incidents happened as a direct result of the implementation of the minimum lap time between SC2 and SC1 which is designed (correctly so, in our view) to avoid dangerous backing-up of cars on the circuit during qualification. Yet they are also required to avoid unnecessarily stopping at the pit exit or driving unnecessarily slowly,”
Max Verstappen and George Russell give their take on the pit lane investigation
Max Verstappen expressed his “surprise” at the stewards’ investigation into his pit lane stop, emphasizing that his intention was solely to create a gap.
During the post-qualifying press conference, Verstappen pointed out that other drivers were passing him in the pit lane:
“Just everyone is trying to make a gap. I saw a car passing five cars behind me. And then he tried to pass me as well, but I was just trying to make a gap out of the pitlane. And that’s basically what everyone has been doing, so I’m surprised that … yeah, I’m quite surprised.”
“Normally, I think, everyone should then be called up for impeding because everyone, with this new rule, is driving very slowly in the pitlane. Yeah, I don’t think I did anything weird or wrong.”
George Russell echoed Max Verstappen’s sentiments and highlighted the risks associated with stopping on the track to create a gap:
“When everybody comes out of the pits at the same point, it’s difficult to take a gap. They ask us not to stop in the pitlane.”
“But if you don’t make a gap in the pitlane, you have to make it on track and it’s quite dangerous if you’re doing 10km/h [6mph] down the straight when cars are doing 330km/h [205mph] on their push laps.”
