Article B1.8.4 of the 2026 sporting regulations said: "Any driver passing through a waved yellow flag marshalling sector must reduce their speed and be prepared to change direction. 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."
If there had been a double waved yellow flag, Russell would not have been allowed to set an improved lap time and would have had his lap time deleted anyway.
"It's a single yellow and a 100-metre lift-off, George loses a tenth and a half. It's completely on," Mercedes chief Toto Wolff told Sky. "It was an incredible lap, and you see it on the data. It's a massive lift compared to all the laps before, so well done him. I'm really happy for him, how he managed that."