Jake Dennis escapes Silverstone European F3 safety-car pass probe

Dennis, the 2012 McLaren Autosport BRDC Award winner, was put under investigation after he passed Maximilian Gunther for second place in the move, which began at The Loop and finished when he gained the inside line for the following Aintree kink.

That happened almost simultaneously with the safety car being called because Nikita Mazepin and Callum Ilott were stranded in the gravel traps at Luffield and Abbey respectively.

Although Dennis was informed over the radio during a subsequent safety-car period that his pass could stand, there were further discussions between officials and the drivers involved in the paddock after the race.

It appears that Dennis is in the clear because the drivers had not yet passed a safety-car board from a marshalling post.

"They said 'safety car' [over the radio] but by that point I was already ahead," said Dennis, who is only competing in the early-season races with Carlin and is focusing primarily on the Blancpain GT Series this year with the WRT Audi team.

"I said, 'Do you want me to give the place back?', and I would have been more than happy to do that - to be honest I was just shocked to be in a podium position anyway [from eighth on the grid]!

"But luckily it all seemed fine, and they told me during the next safety car."

Gunther said: "I got the message 'safety car out' and afterwards Jake passed me, but to be honest I'm not really sure if the board was out or not."

Dennis added that he was relieved to have made the pass given Prema Powerteam driver Gunther's late-race pace.

"That made life easier, because he was a bit quicker," he said.

Meanwhile, Ilott told Autosport that a contributing factor behind his spin, while lying second to race winner Lando Norris, was increased rain since the previous lap.

"I was 5km/h slower than the previous lap," he said, "maybe even more - I braked earlier and still lost it.

"From what I'm told it rained a little bit on that lap maybe.

"Obviously it's shit, but it wasn't just a stupid mistake - it was just something that happened.

"It was a bit like Daniel Ricciardo in Melbourne qualifying - I lost it before I even got to the corner."