The Mercedes driver was judged to have exceeded the maximum time between the two safety car lines at the start of Q1.

A statement issued by the FIA said that he would have to explain later why he had breached Article 27.5 of the Sporting Regulations for "exceeding the maximum time set by the FIA between the Safety Car line after the pit exit and Safety Car line before the pit entry at 13.05."

Rosberg could be given a grid penalty, a reprimand or fine for the offence if he is found guilty.

F1 race director Charlie Whiting had sent a note to the teams on Friday night stating that the maximum permitted time between the two safety car lines was 1m45.0s.

According to the official timing data from the session, the issue revolves around a slow lap that Rosberg did after his first flying lap in Q1.

Following an effort of 1m30.724 seconds on his first flying lap, Rosberg backed off and did a 2m26.444s lap prior to trying again for another lap.

While other drivers also went slower on second laps, none were as extremely slow as Rosberg's.

The intention of having a maximum permitted time between the two safety car lines is to limit the risk of accidents being caused by drivers running too slowly on track while others are on fast laps.

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