F1 News: Nico Hulkenberg Loses Canadian GP Front Row Start After Late Penalty

Nico Hulkenberg has lost his front row start for the Canadian Grand Prix tomorrow.

Nico Hulkenberg has been slapped with a three-place grid penalty after being found to speed during a red flag in the qualifying session for the Canadian Grand Prix. 

Spirits were high in the Haas garage after the dramatic session as the German driver found himself surprisingly qualifying in second position behind Max Verstappen and ahead of Fernando Alonso for the race in Montreal tomorrow. 

However, Hulkenberg was summoned to the stewards after the race for allegedly speeding during a red flag in qualifying. The stewards have now confirmed that he has been given a three-place grid penalty and a penalty point. 

The letter from the stewards reads:

"Car 27 [Nico Hulkenberg] failed to stay above the minimum time set by the FIA ECU during a red flag.

"The driver had just finished his fastest lap and had started another push lap. He was at T1. 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. He also admitted to confusion about the beep signal in his headset, and therefore at one stage thought he was going too slow."

New document: Infringement - Car 27 - Qualifying Red Flag
Published on 18-06-2023 02:27 CEThttps://t.co/H3wDWdHhWT#F1 #Formula1 #FIA #CanadianGP 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/pNqluuqWdK

— FIA F1 Documents Bot (@fiadocsbot) June 18, 2023

The Haas driver will now start from fifth place on the grid. This plays into the hands of Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, and George Russell who will now start from second, third and fourth, respectively. 

Hulkenberg is not the only driver to be given a grid penalty since the session came to a close with Lance Stroll, Yuki Tsunoda, and Carlos Sainz all moving down three grid places as well.