Officials have cleared Max Verstappen and George Russell of impeding during qualifying for the Mexico City Grand Prix while Logan Sargeant and Williams picked up penalties.
The duo, together with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, were referred to the stewards after stopping in the pit lane during the qualifying hour.
That triggered chaotic scenes as drivers jostled to get out on track and start their timed laps.
In all three instances, the reasoning behind the decision was the same.
“The Stewards noted in particular the evidence of the drivers of Car 1, 14 and 63 and also noted that several other cars slowed either at the pit exit or in the pit road leading up to the SC2 line,” the stewards’ decision noted.
“The Stewards consider that the entire set of incidents occurred 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.
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“We note that there are contrary requirements on drivers in that they must respect the minimum time, they are attempting to create manageable gaps to cars in front, yet they are also required to avoid unnecessarily stopping at the pit exit or driving unnecessarily slowly.
“It was also particularly noted that the Race Director accepted that these contrary requirements exist.
“All parties including the Stewards are firmly of the view that it is better to have the potential of cars backing-up in the pit lane or at the pit exit, instead of the potentially dangerous situation of large speed differences on track.
“We consider that in the main all drivers involved in these incidents were acting in good faith and with safety as a priority.
“We also accept that Race Direction has taken the correct approach in applying the minimum lap time.
“It is desirable that a better solution be found for the pit exit however at this stage, what that solution would be, is unknown.”
The stewards’ findings echo comments made by the drivers themselves when explaining how the situation in pit lane unfolded.
Stewards had a busy time of it post-qualifying with Sargeant and Hamilton alleged to have passed under yellow flags, shown after Alonso spun at Turn 3 late in Qualifying 1.
The Williams driver was found guilty and will carry a 10-place grid penalty into the race – a largely moot point given he was to have started 20th anyway.
He’s also been handed two penalty points on his licence for the incident, while Hamilton was unpenalised.
“The on board video clearly shows there is no light or flag displayed to Car 44 on the straight into Turn 1, then a green light shows as he enters Turn 2, which is followed by 2 pulses of a yellow light then moments later, the light panel is blank,” stewards noted.
“The driver was slightly slower in the mini sector than on his previous push lap.
“Our determination is that there was no breach of the regulations.”
Williams meanwhile was slapped with a €20,000 fine, €10,000 of which is suspended for a period of 12 months.
The fine is a result of an unattended jack being left in the path of Yuki Tsunoda as the Scuderia AlphaTauri driver left his pit box, which was deemed a breach of the International Sporting Code
Elsewhere, Zhou Guanyu, Lando Norris, and Russell cleared after they were referred to the stewards for exceeding the minimum time between Safety Car lines.
In all three instances, officials in Mexico deemed the trio acted appropriately in affording rivals clear track and there were no penalties for driving “unnecessarily slowly”.
Zhou did, however, pick up a €500 fine for speeding in the lane.
