EXPLAINED: Why did Russell avoid investigation over yellow flags and hold onto Austrian GP pole?

George Russell took a sensational pole position for Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix, despite passing yellow flags shown following Red Bull's Max Verstappen's crash at Turn 9, while Mercedes team mate Kimi Antonelli bailed out of his lap and did not improve – so why did the Silver Arrows take differing approaches and how did Russell escape investigation?

OK, so let's start at the beginning. What was going down in the closing stages of Qualifying?

It was set up beautifully with Antonelli fastest by just 0.043s from Russell with Verstappen only 0.014s further back after the first runs (which Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton aborted after running wide at Turn 3).

When the second runs got under way, Hamilton went quickest, before being usurped by Leclerc. But behind them, Verstappen, Antonelli and Russell – in that order – were all flying and in pole contention.

But then Verstappen lost the car at Turn 9 and bounced across the gravel before hitting the barriers sideways – and that ended his session and brought out the yellow flags.

OK, so what happens when there is a yellow flag?

Well, to start with, there are two types of yellow flag scenarios. A single waved yellow flag and a double waved yellow flag.

The sporting regulations state that if a single yellow flag is deployed, any driver passing through that marshalling sector "must reduce their speed and be prepared to change direction".

They add: "In order for the stewards to be satisfied that any such driver has complied with these requirements they are expected to have braked earlier and/or discernibly reduced speed in the relevant marshalling sector".

For a double waved yellow flag, drivers "must reduce speed significantly and be prepared to change direction or stop".

They add: "In order for the stewards to be satisfied that any such driver has complied with these requirements it must be clear that the driver has not attempted to set a meaningful lap time on the relevant lap.

"Furthermore, during a Sprint Qualifying or Qualifying session, any driver passing through a double waved yellow flag marshalling sector will have that lap time deleted."

The obvious question then – what yellow flag was it?

A single yellow flag, which meant drivers were free to complete their flying lap providing they sufficiently reduced speed.

Russell immediately clocked it was a single waved yellow flag and adjusted his speed accordingly – but still had enough performance to take a sensational pole position.

"Lifted entry at that corner," said Russell immediately on team radio. "Lost a lot of time. I lifted. Big lift on the entry at that corner."

The stewards noted that there may have been an infringement with Russell – which is not a surprise given he improved his time relative to the first run – but they decided not to launch a full investigation and thus his time and the result stood.

"This is all his experience," said his boss Toto Wolff. "He lifted at the right time, the necessary amount, and that's the pole position."

So if Russell lifted, why did Antonelli – who was on the road ahead – back out of it?

Unfortunately, the Italian thought he saw a double rather than a single yellow and thus followed the rules for that flag scenario by adjusting his speed significantly, ruling him out of improving the time.

Irrespective of that error, championship leader Antonelli didn't think he was on course to take pole anyway.

"It was unfortunate, but it was a mistake from my side because I thought I saw double yellows and instead it was a single, so I completely aborted the lap when I could have just done a lift like George did," he said.

"I think I was a tenth slower than George up to that point, so it still would have been difficult to get pole but at least front row was there."

Wolff agreed: "Yes, he will be super frustrated because he was the dominant driver throughout the weekend. Then at the end he's missed out on that with the yellow. Having said that, I think George's lap was quicker until then anyway."

Antonelli will start fourth on Sunday, behind the Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.

What does this mean for the championship fight?

It was a huge moment for Russell, who had struggled to match Antonelli's pace on Friday – and while he was quicker in FP3, it was Antonelli who led the way in the first two segments of qualifying with Russell fifth and fourth respectively.

The Briton took his second successive pole and, with two Ferraris between him and his team mate, he'll aim to chip into Antonelli's lead.