Nico Hulkenberg raises George Russell factor in Monaco GP penalty controversy
Nico Hulkenberg was left frustrated after a post-race penalty in the Monaco GP cost him a points finish.
A frustrated Nico Hulkenberg has questioned why he was not offered an opportunity to put his case to the stewards in Monaco after copping a late penalty.
The Audi driver was handed a 10-second penalty after contact with Carlos Sainz at the red flag restart in Monaco as the field bunched up around the Fairmont hairpin.
Nico Hulkenberg questions Monaco GP penalty after Russell-triggered chaos
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google for news you can trust.
The post-race time penalty was enough to drop Hulkenberg from ninth to 13th in the final classification.
Frustrated with the incident immediately post-race, the German has again questioned what more he could have done to avoid the incident as George Russell backed up the field.
“I watched the replay. For me, it all starts with George backing up the whole field, trying to create a gap for his penalty, which obviously creates a mess and chaos, and especially Monaco, cars are tripping over each other,” Hulkenberg explained.
“Coming out of Mirabeau, I had Fernando [Alonso] on my right, on the inside, Esteban [Ocon] was fighting some other car, and then I’m looking left, right, left, right, and I have to avoid Esteban all of a sudden.
“That’s why I ended up on the inside in the first place.”
On full lock on the inside of the left-hander, Hulkenberg ran out of road on exit as Carlos Sainz took a mid-track position.
The Spaniard had been on the outside of his Williams teammate heading into the corner, and looked to fall in behind Alex Albon as they accelerated towards Portier.
More Monaco GP fall out
Carlos Sainz lashes out at Nico Hulkenberg after ‘stupid move’ sparks Monaco GP crash
George Russell ‘beyond frustration’ after Monaco penalty nightmare costs Mercedes podium
“I feel that Carlos is also on the outside,” Hulkenberg reasoned.
“He knows we’re all bunched up, he cuts back quite a lot.
“He could have also saved himself by staying a bit wider; he didn’t need to cut back like that.
“But at the end of the day, it’s Lap 1, you have a car bunching up 10 other cars, so things do get tight, and it happens in racing, especially in lap 1 in Monaco.”
While the on-track clash itself was frustrating, it proved doubly so as officials found him guilty of having caused a collision.
That resulted in a 10-second post-race penalty without the opportunity for Hulkenberg to plead his case.
“Bit weird for me is that it was just immediately handed out, the penalty,” Hulkenberg said.
“It’s not even like investigated, or that we needed to go and speak or explain to the stewards as it usually is.
“That was bit disappointing obviously for us.”
The result saw Hulkenberg miss out on the two points associated with ninth place, and what would have been Audi’s second Top 10 finish since taking over from Sauber at the end of last season.
Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.
You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!
