Hamilton was trying to score the fastest lap at his first full-lap out on the circuit, but his effort was a few tenths of a second shy of the time set by Red Bull's Mark Webber. However, as the Q3 times hadn't ran out, he made one more attempt to clinch pole, which he eventually succeeded in thanks to a much lighter car.
In his Q3 in-lap, Hamilton was advised by his race engineer to slow down and ultimately stop his car to the side of the track, as the FIA rulebook requires a certain quantity of fuel in the tank for testing at the end of qualifying. Consequently, Hamilton was handed a $10,000 fine and a reprimand after qualy, but eventually got to keep his pole position.
“I don't know all the details so it's hard to comment. But we must not come to a situation where cars run out of fuel after their last lap because they want to be running as light as possible,” commented after the qualifying session Mercedes GP's boss and FOTA technical chairman Ross Brawn.
FIA's race director Charlie Whiting reportedly talked the matter through with all the team bosses on Sunday morning, according to Germany's Auto Motor und Sport, and the outcome was that “any car that runs out of fuel at the end of qualifying will be summoned to the stewards, risking penalties if the reason for the stoppage is not 'force majeure'.”
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