Rosberg keeps pole after yellow flag probe

Rosberg was summoned to see the stewards almost four hours after claiming pole position at the Hungaroring, with officials alleging he failed to slow for yellow flags prompted by Fernando Alonso spinning his McLaren at the end of Q3.

But following a stewards' hearing, and after examining video/telemetry evidence, it was determined the telemetry demonstrated Rosberg reduced speed significantly into Turn 8.

Other cars, including Rosberg's Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton, had been forced to slow substantially as the McLaren stopped half on and half off the circuit.

Rosberg was further down the track and by the time he reached the scene Alonso had rejoined, so he was only under the yellows for a shorter period.

The championship leader then set the fastest time in that sector, which allowed him to take pole position by 0.143 seconds from Hamilton.

The rules state under double-waved yellow situations a driver must "reduce...speed significantly, not overtake, and be prepared to change direction or stop".

Rosberg was adamant he followed the rules.

"It's very clear. I knew what I had to do, I did what I had to do," he said.

"You have to significantly lift, and as result, slow down.

"I'm driving safely out there when there are double yellows as I'm expecting an issue in front.

"All I can say is I lost a fair amount of time. It's not really possible to measure it because it's a sequence of corners."