Yuki Tsunoda thought Nico Hulkenberg had overtaken him under yellow flags after misidentifying trackside signals.

The Red Bull driver told his team Hulkenberg overtook him “in the yellow flag zone” on the in-lap following Saturday’s sprint race at Interlagos. The Sauber driver passed him as they arrived at Descida do Lago (turn four).

However the section of track was not covered by yellow flags at the time. Race control messages show a ‘track surface slippery’ warning was issued in track sector five, the location of the corner, at that point in the race.

The ‘slippery track’ message is used to refer to debris on the track as well as liquids, which is why it was used at this time. It was deployed after Alexander Albon’s car dropped debris from Gabriel Bortoleto’s huge crash on the final lap.

Tsunoda was running behind the pair when the crash occured and overtook Albon at Descida do Lago on the final lap as parts of the Sauber fell out of the Williams.

Tsunoda also passed a light panel showing a yellow-and-red warning signal

As Tsunoda returned to the corner, after taking the chequered flag, his race engineer Richard Wood warned him “we do have potential debris, turn four, as well, so just watch out for debris at turn four here.”

Tsunoda passed a light board showing a yellow-and-red striped flag signal which represents the yellow-and-red ‘slippery track’ flag. A marshal could also be seen holding a yellow-and-red striped flag on the inside of the corner.

However Tsunoda appeared to mistake the signs for a yellow flag. “Hulkenberg just overtook in the yellow flag zone,” he told Wood. The stewards did not note any incident. Hulkenberg had already passed Carlos Sainz Jnr when he caught Tsunoda and also overtook Isack Hadjar on his way into the pits.

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