Rosberg keeps pole after yellow flag investigation

Nico Rosberg will start the Hungarian Grand Prix from pole position after stewards cleared him of wrongdoing over an alleged breach of the yellow flag ruling.

The Mercedes driver beat Lewis Hamilton to pole position in contentious circumstances after his fastest time was achieved despite waved yellow flags being deployed at Turn 8 for the spun Fernando Alonso.

Though most drivers aborted their laps, Rosberg maintained his momentum in the run up to Turn 7 with yellow flags evident on television replays. The disputed Turn 8 corner, however, was clear by the time Rosberg reached it with the track returning to green flag conditions as he approached it.

With Rosberg going on to take pole position, though no investigation was launched in the direct aftermath of the session - with Rosberg insisting he made a 'very, very big lift' to acknowledge the flags -, stewards belatedly put him under investigation three hours after qualifying finished.

However, stewards have since decided to take no further action against the championship contender, meaning he will indeed start the Hungaroring race from pole position.

"Telemetry demonstrated that the driver reduced speed significantly into Turn 8," read the FIA statement.

Rosberg had earlier insisted he did a 'very, very big lift' when coming through the section, despite setting the fastest second sector time of qualifying.

"There were double waved yellows but I had a very, very big lift and I lost a lot of time as a result and I was also slower than on my previous lap in that yellow sector or segment so I am sure it will be OK."