Szafnauer left furious after Hulkenberg penalty

  • Published on 26 Nov 2017 17:32
  • comments 5
  • By: Sam Gale

Force India's chief operating officer Otmar Szafnauer has called Nico Hulkenberg's penalty at today's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix "a mockery of the sport," after the penalty had no effect on the German's race even though he had illegally overtaken Sergio Perez. Many were left confused as to why he was not ordered to hand the position back to Perez and instead given a time penalty.

The overtake of Perez was potentially a crucial one as at the time Renault would not have secured enough points to overtake Toro Rosso in the constructor's championship and thus missing out on a large amount of prize money. This could potentially have directly affected the teams competitiveness against the likes of Force India for next season.

"They gain a place in the constructors championship which means more money for next year," said Szafnauer, "It makes a mockery of the sport to have it so inconsistent. I think Hulkenberg should have given the place back just like the same thing he did to Grosjean. I don't know what the FIA are thinking. It's really difficult to understand when the decisions are all over the place."

 

Sam Gale

Replies (5)

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  • f1ski

    Posts: 726

    it would be nice if each penalty had a specified punishment I was shocked the time it took to give the penalty. Again FIA playing favorites. To me it is like the oil burn rule A way was found to allow MB to continue at the higher burn rate.

    • + 0
    • Nov 27 2017 - 02:07
  • Jutlandia

    Posts: 191

    I think Hulkenberg is the most unsportive driver in the field...

    • + 0
    • Nov 27 2017 - 12:38
    • xoya

      Posts: 583

      And he can "Suck my balls mate" :D

      • + 0
      • Nov 27 2017 - 17:18
    • No, that's definitely (ironically) Magnussen. Almost in every race he did something reprehensible. This last one? Apart from the driving erros, the way he slowed Verstappen down when getting lapped was a disgrace

      • + 0
      • Nov 27 2017 - 23:08
  • This was a combination of slow reaction by stewards and bad/good luck. I don't understand why they didn't simply tell Nico to give the place back. I think he had the pace to pass Sergio regardless. Anyway... this doesn't rank even in the top 10 worst steward decisions this year.

    • + 0
    • Nov 27 2017 - 23:10

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