Hakkinen Survives Pole Protest.

Mika Hakkinen was fortunate to keep his pole position at the Monaco Grand Prix on Saturday, after Ferrari protested him for speeding under yellow flags.


The Italian team claimed that the Finn had failed to slow sufficiently under yellow flags held out to warn of Damon Hill's spun Jordan. Hakkinen was seen to wave a hand at the marshals in acknowledgement of the signal, and subsequently went on to steal pole position from under Michael Schumacher's nose.


Schumacher was left in no doubt that his rival should have obeyed the flags, but admitted that stationary yellows could be treated differently from waved ones. Indeed, the situation is a grey area, with nothing in the rule book to cover stationary flags, something Schumacher says should be looked at.


"It has two meanings for me," he said, "Either [Mika] made a mistake - he should have waited and should have slowed down - or [the flag] shouldn't have been there. You take a chance. As I was on pole position, I was on the safe side, but Mika took the risk and took the advantage from me. It's a bit of a shame that things like this can decide qualifying."


Ferrari's protest was thrown out by the race stewards, allowing Hakkinen to keep his pole position.