Nico Hülkenberg avoided a heavy penalty after the Canadian Grand Prix of Formula 1. The Audi driver received a suspended stop-and-go penalty from the stewards after an infraction in the starting procedure in Montreal.
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The situation happened before the start of the race, which had chaotic moments still in the formation lap. After Arvid Lindblad’s car stalled after the first formation lap, the start was aborted and two more formation laps had to be completed before the green flag.
After the race, the German was investigated for being out of position on the safety car line during the formation lap and for not entering the pit lane as required by the regulations. In theory, the infraction would automatically result in a stop-and-go penalty for the German.
However, the stewards understood that the immediate application of the penalty would be disproportionate given the circumstances of the case. Besides the suspended penalty until the end of the season, the Audi regular and Liam Lawson received only a formal reprimand for the incident.
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In the official justification, the stewards highlighted that the incident was “unusual.” According to the document, car #27 was slower than expected at the moment of the third formation lap, while car #30 started early and should have waited longer. Hulkenberg claimed he could not safely overtake Lawson to regain his correct position.
The stewards also pointed out that, despite the incorrect order of the cars passing the SC1 line, there was no need to delay the start, nor impact on the race competition. “The mandatory stop-and-go penalty would be extremely severe and disproportionate for an infraction with relatively small effect,” the stewards stated in the official document.
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