Hulkenberg drops to seventh on grid after penalty for pit exit passes · RaceFans

Nico Hulkenberg has lost his second row start for Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after he was handed a three-place grid penalty by the stewards.

The Haas driver passed both Carlos Sainz Jnr and Jack Doohan along the pit exit road in violation of this weekend’s rules.

The penalty drops Hulkenberg from fourth on the grid to seventh as a result.

Hulkenberg was summoned to the stewards following the incident at the end of Q1 when drivers were heading out on track to start their final runs in the session. After exiting the pit lane behind Sainz and Doohan, Hulkenberg passed the pair of them through the underground pit exit road.

Normally, drivers are permitted to overtake rivals after crossing the pit exit line before joining the race track. However, race director Rui Marques prohibited drivers from overtaking along the pit entry road in his updated event notes published on Friday. These state drivers are only allowed to overtake if a rival car has an “obvious problem”.

Speaking to the stewards, Hulkenberg accepted that he had failed to follow this instruction but insisted he had “no other option but to breach the rules to get a lap in”.

The stewards determined that as Hulkenberg breached an instruction designed to prevent “potentially dangerous situations”, he had earned a grid drop rather than a lighter punishment such as a reprimand.

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The penalty means Hulkenberg will now start the season-ending grand prix from seventh on the grid. Max Verstappen, Pierre Gasly and George Russell will each be promoted one place on the grid to fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.

The penalty is potentially critical in the battle between Haas and Alpine for sixth place in the constructors’ championship. Hulkenberg would have started ahead of Alpine’s Gasly but will now start behind.

Haas must out-score Alpine by six points to prevent their rivals from beating them to sixth place in the championship.