18 June 2023 , 00:33
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Lewis Hamilton has gained a place on the Canadian Grand Prix grid after the Formula 1 stewards penalised Nico Hulkenberg for driving too fast under red flag conditions during qualifying.
The Haas driver qualified second on the grid with an excellent lap before the rain in Montreal intensified. That meant he expected to be sharing the front row with Max Verstappen on Sunday.
But that status was soon under threat. Hulkenberg was called to the stewards' office after the session, accused of driving too fast under red flag conditions during qualifying.
After deliberations, the stewards decided to drop him by three places on the grid and put a penalty point on his licence. The reason for the punishment was explained in an official document released by the FIA.
It read: "The driver had just finished his fastest lap and had started another push lap. He was at Turn 1 when the red flag was displayed. However, at that point, he was already 1.5 seconds over his delta time. He claimed this made it extremely difficult for him to come below the delta in the next sector.
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"He also admitted to confusion about the beep signal in his headset and, therefore, at one stage thought he was going too slow. Comparison of telemetry with that of Car 31 showed that, in general, for the rest of the lap, he was approximately the same speed as Car 31 which complied with the delta times in each min-sector. We regard this as a mitigating circumstance.
"However, the regulations is clear and whilst there is no question of the driver acting dangerously or driving unsafely, there was a breach and thus a penalty has to be imposed. The normal penalty for failure to slow under red flags is 10 grid positions. However, in view of the mitigating circumstance, a lower penalty is appropriate."
Hulkenberg's penalty means his P2 grid slot has been taken away from him (Getty Images)The penalty benefits Hamilton, who qualified fourth on the road but will now move up a place. And it is good news for the other Mercedes driver, George Russell, who was fifth at the end of qualifying but will now share the second row with Hamilton.
Fernando Alonso is the other driver to move up and will now start on the front row alongside pole-sitter Max Verstappen. Hulkenberg's grid drop means he will start fifth on the grid alongside Esteban Ocon.
Three other grid drops were handed out after the session, all for impeding offences. Carlos Sainz dropped from eighth to 11th because he blocked Pierre Gasly, while Yuki Tsunoda and Lance Stroll were also bumped down by three places each for similar acts.