Nico Hulkenberg has been disqualified from the Bahrain Grand Prix. The Sauber driver’s car failed post-race checks carried out by FIA personnel and the German was summoned to the stewards for a meeting over the matter.
Those checks found too much wear to the skid block underneath his car, which needs to be at least nine millimetres thick when it is measured at the end of the race by scrutineers. It is the same infraction for which Lewis Hamilton was disqualified following the Chinese Grand Prix last month.
The rear skid on Hulkenberg’s car was found to be 8.5mm at the point of the thickest measurement taken by FIA scrutineers. “As this is less than the 9mm minimum thickness required, I am referring this matter to the stewards for their consideration,” said FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer
And the stewards have now confirmed that Hulkenberg has been disqualified from the final classification, but he Sauber driver and his team are not set to lose any points as a result. He finished the race in 13th place and six seconds off the top 10.
The stewards said: “During the hearing the team representative confirmed that the measurement is correct and that all required procedures were performed correctly. The team also acknowledged that it was a genuine error by the team.
“The stewards determine that Article 3.5.9 e) of the FIA Formula One Technical Regulations has been breached and therefore the standard penalty of a disqualification needs to be applied for such an infringement.”
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The verdict capped a weekend to forget for Sauber in Bahrain. Hulkenberg’s rookie team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto was the last of the classified finishers in 19th place on track and moves up to 18th in the final classification as a result of the German’s disqualification.
Sauber sit at the bottom of the constructors’ standings with six points – which is at least two more than the four they managed across the whole of the 2024 campaign. The outfit will become the Audi works team from next year when the German carmaker officially enters F1.
They were above Alpine heading into this race weekend. However, Pierre Gasly’s seventh-placed finish means they now also have six points to show for their efforts and so now they share last spot with Sauber, both just one point behind Racing Bulls in eighth place.
Hulkenberg and Bortoleto, the 2024 Formula 2 champion, form an all-new driver line-up at Sauber for this season. There is also another key new face in the form of new team principal Jonathan Wheatley, who began work with the squad earlier this month after leaving Red Bull where he was sporting director for many years.
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