Bang on Saturday evening in Monaco: Both Haas racing cars were disqualified due to an offence on the rear wing, Nico Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen had to start from the pit lane.
The US racing team Haas has lost starting positions 12 (Nico Hülkenberg) and 15 (Kevin Magnussen) – their Formula 1 cars were declared non-compliant by the race stewards on Saturday evening. This means that they will have to start the Monaco Grand Prix from the pit lane, and that usually means no chance of scoring any World Championship points.
And this is what happened: During a routine check after the final practice session for the Canadian Grand Prix, Jo Bauer, the technical delegate of the FIA, the world motorsport association, noticed that the distance between the main blade and the adjustable upper rear wing element on the Haas racing car was greater than the permitted 8.5 cm. This was at the upwardly curved end of the wing.
Bauer reported this to the race stewards. In Monaco, Nish Shetty (Singapore), Matthew Selley (Australia), Derek Warwick (England) and Jean-François Calmes (Monaco) work in this capacity.
The rule makers had no choice but to disqualify the racing cars of Nico Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen. This means that they did not officially take part in qualifying. Because Haas can prove that their cars have enough speed to be race-worthy, they are allowed to take part in the Grand Prix – but they must start from the pit lane.
The race stewards’ statement states: “The team has explained that a new wing was used in Monte Carlo. With this new wing, the largest permitted distance of 85 millimeters is not in the middle, but on the left and right sides. The team admits that it did not give its own specialists sufficient instructions on how to set the maximum distance correctly.”
“The team stated that it had not gained any performance advantage as a result. However, this is irrelevant in this case. According to Article 1.3.3, a racing car must comply with the regulations at all times, which was not the case here. Therefore, exclusion was unavoidable, even though the team openly admitted its mistake.”
There are precedents for this: In the sprint qualifying at Interlagos 2021, Lewis Hamilton lost his best starting position due to a similar problem and had to start the sprint from the very back.
Qualifying, Monaco
01. Charles Leclerc (MC), Ferrari, 1:10.270 min
02. Oscar Piastri (AUS), McLaren, 1:10.424
03. Carlos Sainz (E), Ferrari, 1:10.518
04. Lando Norris (GB), McLaren, 1:10.542
05. George Russell (GB), Mercedes, 1:10.543
06. Max Verstappen (NL), Red Bull Racing, 1:10.567
07. Lewis Hamilton (GB), Mercedes, 1:10.621
08. Yuki Tsunoda (J), Racing Bulls, 1:10.858
09. Alex Albon (T), Williams, 1:10.948
10. Pierre Gasly (F), Alpine, 1:11.311
11. Esteban Ocon (F), Alpine, 1:11.285
12. Nico Hülkenberg (D), Haas, 1:11.440 *
13. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS), Racing Bulls, 1:11.482
14. Lance Stroll (CDN), Aston Martin, 1:11.563
15. Kevin Magnussen (DK), Haas, 1:11.725 *
16. Fernando Alonso (E), Aston Martin, 1:12.019
17. Logan Sargeant (USA), Williams, 1:12.020
18. Sergio Perez (MEX), Red Bull Racing, 1:12.060
19. Valtteri Bottas (FIN), Sauber, 1:12.512
20. Guanyu Zhou (RCH), Sauber, 1:13.028
* disqualified
Presumed starting grid for Monaco GP
01. Charles Leclerc (MC), Ferrari
02. Oscar Piastri (AUS), McLaren
03. Carlos Sainz (E), Ferrari
04. Lando Norris (GB), McLaren
05. George Russell (GB), Mercedes
06. Max Verstappen (NL), Red Bull Racing
07. Lewis Hamilton (GB), Mercedes
08. Yuki Tsunoda (J), Racing Bulls
09. Alex Albon (T), Williams
10. Pierre Gasly (F), Alpine
11. Esteban Ocon (F), Alpine
12. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS), Racing Bulls
13. Lance Stroll (CDN), Aston Martin
14. Fernando Alonso (E), Aston Martin
15. Logan Sargeant (USA), Williams
16. Sergio Perez (MEX), Red Bull Racing
17. Valtteri Bottas (FIN), Sauber
18. Guanyu Zhou (RCH), Sauber
Start from the pit lane:
Nico Hülkenberg (D), Haas
Kevin Magnussen (DK), Haas