Haas’s chances of overhauling Alpine for sixth in Formula 1’s constructors’ championship have taken a blow with Nico Hulkenberg losing his fourth place grid spot in Abu Dhabi.
Just over two hours after his sensational qualifying performance, Hulkenberg has been handed a three-place grid penalty that moves him from fourth to seventh on the grid.
That promotes world champion Max Verstappen into fourth and more importantly for Haas’s battle, Pierre Gasly’s Alpine from sixth to fifth on the grid. Haas trails Alpine by seven points going into Sunday’s race.
Constructors’ standings
1 McLaren 640
2 Ferrari 619
3 Red Bull 581
4 Mercedes 446
5 Aston Martin 92
6 Alpine 59
7 Haas 52
8 RB 46
9 Williams 17
10 Sauber 4
George Russell’s Mercedes also moves to sixth ahead of the demoted Hulkenberg.
Hulkenberg earned his penalty for contravening the race director’s event notes in Q1 by overtaking two cars in Yas Marina’s unique pit exit tunnel that goes underneath the track.
“The driver did not dispute during the hearing that he did not follow the race director’s instructions, but stated that he had no other option but to breach the rules in order to get a lap in,” the stewards’ document read.
“Whilst the stewards acknowledge that the position of the team’s garages limits their options to send the cars out on track, this can never be used as an excuse to breach any regulations.
“The prohibition of overtaking in certain areas as the pitlane or, in this case, the pit exit, is implemented to prevent potentially dangerous situations and therefore the
stewards determine that a grid drop is warranted in this case.”
Revised ABU DHABI GP STARTING GRID
1 Lando Norris (McLaren)
2 Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
3 Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
4 Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
5 Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
6 George Russell (Mercedes)
7 Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)*
8 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
9 Valtteri Bottas (Sauber)
10 Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
11 Yuki Tsunoda (RB)
12 Liam Lawson (RB)
13 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
14 Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
15 Zhou Guanyu (Sauber)
16 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
17 Jack Doohan (Alpine)
18 Alex Albon (Williams) **
19 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) ***
20 Franco Colapinto (Williams) **
*3-place grid penalty
**5-place grid penalty
***10-place grid penalty
