FIA confirm F1 team punishment after Belgian Grand Prix incident
The FIA is F1's governing body
Sauber has been given a reprimand after the FIA launched an investigation into the Nico Hulkenberg’s pit-lane collision with Lance Stroll.
Hulkenberg made contact with Stroll’s Aston Martin while trying to join the queue in the pit lane at the start of qualifying at Spa.
Sauber reprimanded by FIA after Nico Hulkenberg, Lance Stroll incident
The Sauber driver attempted to slot himself in between Stroll and the Williams of Carlos Sainz as the cars accelerated in the pit lane.
Realising he would not make it, Hulkenberg slammed on the brakes but could not avoid a minor collision with Stroll.
The incident forced Sauber to complete an emergency change of nose on Hulkenberg’s car in the slow lane as the session got underway.
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Stroll pointed the finger at Hulkenberg, telling Aston Martin over team radio: “The Sauber just drove into me.”
Race control immediately noted the incident before it was announced that it would be the subject of a post-qualifying investigation.
Hulkenberg and Stroll, along with representatives of the Sauber and Aston Martin teams, were required to meet the stewards at 1730 local time at Spa.
The FIA has announced that Sauber has been reprimanded for the incident, with the drivers involved cleared of causing a collision.
The stewards’ verdict read: “The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 27 (Nico Hulkenberg), the driver of Car 18 (Lance Stroll), team representatives, the FIA Formula 1 Race Director, the FIA Single Seater Sporting Director and reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video, and in-car video evidence.
“The Race Director’s notes state ‘Any car driven to the end of the Pit Lane prior to the start…….of a session must form up in a line in the fast lane and leave in the order they got there.
“‘It is noted that the car will be considered to be in the fast lane when a tyre has crossed the solid white line separating the fast lane from the inner lane. In this context “crossing” means that all of the tyre should be beyond the far side….of the line…”
“In this case, no tyre of Car 27 complied with the above prior to the start of the session, in which case, Car 18 is considered to have priority in the line.
“Therefore Car 27 should have merged into the line when there was a “suitable gap” and in this case no such gap existed.
“At all times the driver of Car 27 was following team instructions either by radio or hand signal from a team member.
“Accordingly, Car 27 breached Article 34.8 and the penalty is applied to the team.
“In relation to the subsequent collision that occurred, both cars appeared to move, under instructions from their team, at the same time and inadvertently collided.
“We consider that no driver was wholly or predominantly to blame and hence take no further action in relation to Causing a Collision.”
Stroll went on to qualifying 20th and last in Belgium, with team-mate Fernando Alonso lapping a disappointing 19th to form an all-Aston Martin back row.
Hulkenberg, who claimed the first podium finish of his F1 career at the British Grand Prix earlier this month. was eventually eliminated in 14th as Sauber team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto reached Q3.
Bortoleto will line up 10th on Sunday’s starting grid in Belgium.
More on Lance Stroll and Nico Hulkenberg from PlanetF1.com
Alonso was also involved in a close call in the pit lane at the start of qualifying at Spa as Haas driver Oliver Bearman narrowly avoided contact with the two-time World Champion after emerging from the garage.
“I nearly crash,” Alonso reported over team radio. “I had to brake as hard as I could and I nearly got hit.”
The incident was noted but the stewards’ found no grounds for a full investigation.
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