Haas didn’t have much time to celebrate Nico Hulkenberg’s unexpected first class finish, but he was already in danger. An investigation awaits the surprised man.
Kevin Magnussen’s qualifying success in Brazil last year matched team mate Nico Hulkenberg’s achievement this year in the rainy qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix. The German took the second grid on the wet track, beating Fernando Alonso and the Mercedes.
However, his unforeseen result was already in jeopardy, as he was recalled by the FIA after the start of the qualifying session. He is accused of violating point 37.6.a) of the Sporting Regulations, i.e. not adhering to the minimum set time during the red flag signal. The fault is detected based on measurements of the central electronic system.
Hülkenberg ran his fastest lap shortly before Oscar Piastri’s crash stopped qualifying at a red flag. Then the Haas driver breached the time limit.
Radio contact with the team reveals that there was some confusion as to whether Hülkenberg should speed up or slow down from his previous pace. His engineer told him to stay in the positive range of delta time, but he noted that he could not hear what he was being asked about because of the many beeps reaching his ears. “This beeping is driving me crazy. Should I be negative or positive?” Hulkenberg asked. His engineer told him to slow down, but the driver thought he had to speed up. In the end, rely on the team. “Very fast, very fast, because there is a red flag,” said engineer Gary Gannon.
The question is whether the FIA will consider the confusion caused by the rain and the radio broadcast as mitigating circumstances, or whether it will ignore them and penalize Hulkenberg, who is believed to be driving too fast.
