Michael Schumacher intentionally switched off his engine to save it from overheating, but he did so after the start lights flashed yellow – signalling a delayed start.
The Mercedes driver looked to have stalled, causing the delay, but he insists he switched his own engine off because of the yellow lights displayed above the grid, which later flashed red.
“We had the yellow lights and pretty high engine temperatures, and I decided to switch off the engine as we were waiting so long,” he explained.
His race went from bad to worse as he had to start from the pit-lane, but sped on his way to the exit and was handed a drive-through. He then suffered a surprise puncture on the opening lap.
“We had a puncture, I don’t know how and what happened. There was obviously no contact, I was alone and by myself,” he added.
“Then we even had a drive-through because maybe the pitlane limiter or something didn’t work properly during the puncture phase.”
The reason for the yellow lights is still to be confirmed.
