Hulkenberg loses Canada front row start with three-place grid penalty

Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg has lost his front-row start after the stewards slapped the German driver with a three-place grid penalty with a red flag infringement.

Hulkenberg surprised the paddock when he qualified second in damp conditions which slotted him in between Red Bull driver Max Verstappen – on pole position – and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.

The red flag was soon flown after McLaren’s Oscar Piastri found himself in the barrier on the exit of turn seven. During the red flag, the track conditions deteriorated so much due to the heavy downpour that no driver was able to improve their previous best times and this, ultimately, set the grid.

However, it was alleged that Hulkenberg had driven too slowly back to the pits which ignited an investigation from the stewards.

In the report, the stewards said:

“The driver had just finished his fastest lap and had started another push lap. He was at T1 when the red flag was displayed, however at that point he was already 1.5 seconds over his delta time.

“He claimed this made it extremely difficult for him to come below the delta in the next sector. He also admitted to confusion about the beep signal in his headset, and therefore at one stage thought he was going too slow.

“Comparison of telemetry with that of Car 31 showed that in general for the rest of the lap he was approximately the same speed as Car 31 which complied with the delta
times in each mini-sector. We regard this as a mitigating circumstance.

The regulation is very clear and whilst there is no question of the driver acting dangerously or driving unsafely, there was a breach and thus a penalty has to be imposed.”

According to the stewards, the normal penalty for failing to slow under the red flag procedure is a 10-place grid penalty but they believed a lower penalty was appropriate. They said:

“The normal penalty for failure to slow under red flags is 10 grid positions however in view of the mitigating circumstance, a lower penalty is appropriate.

“We note the intention of the regulation is to ensure a car is not speeding during a red flag situation and there is no evidence that the speed was excessive in this case.

“We also note that the driver should make himself more familiar with the operational aspects of the delta signals.”

Hulkenberg will now start in fifth place rather than second and this has promoted Alonso, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and George Russell up by one place.

That’s all for the article: Hulkenberg loses Canada front row start with three-place grid penalty!

Read more Formula 1 here:

• Sainz slapped with three-place grid drop for Canada GP
• Hulkenberg summoned to stewards for Canada GP red flag infringement
• Hulkenberg joins Verstappen on the front row after wet Canada GP qualifying
• Verstappen untouchable in soaked F1 final practice of Canada GP
• Bottas quickest in Canada GP FP1 as CCTV problems cut session short
• James Key to join Alfa Romeo F1 as Technical Director

Give us a follow on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up with the latest news from the world of Motorsport! You can also support us on Patreon or on our website!

Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.