The top eight is exactly as qualifying finished. From ninth place down, the penalties have moved almost everyone. Franco Colapinto moves up to ninth for Alpine, and Oliver Bearman into the top ten for Haas.

The “Qualified” column is the qualifying classification before penalties. Bottas gains the most on paper because three cars ahead of him were penalised, but he still starts 19th. Pérez’s three-place penalty had limited effect: with both Aston Martins sent to the back, there were few places behind him to drop into, and he lines up 20th.

The incident happened late in Q3. Lando Norris went off ahead of Sainz, which brought out yellow flags in two consecutive marshalling sectors, sectors 4 and 5, after Turn 2 and on the approach to Turn 3. Williams warned Sainz on the radio: “Yellow ahead, lift.”

Sainz did slow down, but not in the first yellow sector. At the stewards’ hearing he explained that he intended to show what he called a “global lift”: one clear reduction in speed across the whole yellow-flag zone, made later in the section where more yellow flags were being shown. He accepted that he knew the flags were out.

The stewards rejected that argument. Their decision said: “Where consecutive marshalling sectors are subject to yellow flag conditions, a driver must demonstrate a significant reaction to reduce speed in each individual yellow marshalling sector.” They added that “a reduction in a subsequent sector cannot retrospectively satisfy the requirement applicable to the preceding yellow sector”.

The telemetry was decisive. It “clearly showed that SAI’s reaction to the yellow occurred only in Marshalling Sector 5. There was no meaningful reduction in speed in Marshalling Sector 4”. Worse, Sainz set his fastest time of the session in sector 4, the first yellow sector. Setting a personal best under a yellow flag is almost impossible to defend.

For Williams it’s a painful loss. Starting in the top ten at Baku, where points are often decided by who avoids trouble at the start and gains from safety cars, is a big advantage. From 14th, Sainz has to fight through the same busy midfield as Antonelli, only two places ahead of the championship leader’s Mercedes.

A yellow flag means danger ahead: a car off the track, debris, or marshals working near the circuit. Drivers must slow down and be ready to change direction, and they can’t overtake. A double yellow means the danger is serious and drivers must be prepared to stop. Our guide to how racing flags work covers every flag.

In qualifying, the rule has an obvious catch. Slowing down costs lap time, and a driver on his final Q3 lap has every reason to lift as little as possible. That’s why the stewards look at the telemetry and expect a clear, measurable reduction in speed in each yellow sector. It’s not enough to slow down somewhere in the area, and certainly not enough to set a personal best there. The logic is simple: the marshals or the stranded car are in a specific place, and the driver has to be slow at that place.

Yellow-flag penalties in qualifying are usually harsh because the offence directly helps the lap. Grid drops of three or five places, sometimes with penalty points, are common. Sainz’s case is a reminder that the stewards read the timing data sector by sector, and a strong sector time under yellow is very hard to explain away. If you’re new to qualifying, our F1 qualifying explainer explains how Q1, Q2 and Q3 work.

Sergio Pérez: impeding Piastri

Cadillac’s Sergio Pérez was penalised for impeding Oscar Piastri through Turns 18, 19 and 20, the fast final section before the long straight, during Q1. The stewards found Pérez had not managed his preparation lap in line with the specific traffic-management instructions for this weekend. At Baku, where cars on slow preparation laps can be doing 200 km/h while others arrive at 350 km/h on a push lap, those instructions are there for safety as much as fairness.

The penalty was three places, but in practice it cost him very little. With Alonso and Stroll already going to the back, Pérez lines up 20th, behind team-mate Valtteri Bottas. Piastri recovered from the incident to qualify third.

Alonso and Stroll: back of the grid

Both Aston Martins start at the back after the team fitted new power unit components beyond the season’s allowance. Each driver has a limited number of engine parts for the year, and using more brings grid penalties. A big enough penalty sends a driver straight to the back. Alonso starts 21st and Stroll 22nd. If a team has to take an engine penalty, Baku is one of the better places to do it: the long straight and frequent safety cars give cars starting at the back a better chance of recovering than at most tracks.

For the championship fight, the penalties change little directly. Russell’s pole and Antonelli’s 16th place were set before any of this. But the midfield Antonelli has to fight through has got slightly tougher: Sainz is an experienced racer in a car that was quick enough for Q3, and he now starts just two places ahead of the Mercedes. How quickly Antonelli clears the midfield could decide how much of his 81-point lead Russell can take back. We look at every scenario in our Antonelli vs Russell title fight analysis.

Baku also gives the drivers moved back a real chance to recover. The 2.2 km straight makes overtaking easier than at most street circuits, F1’s own data puts the chance of a safety car at 67%, and a well-timed stop behind a safety car can gain several places. Sainz’s race isn’t over. It’s just much harder than it was on Friday afternoon.