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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
Azerbaijan Grand Prix
C. Sainz jr
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Replies (5)
Login to replyf1ski
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.
Jutlandia
Posts: 191
I think Hulkenberg is the most unsportive driver in the field...
xoya
Posts: 583
And he can "Suck my balls mate" :D
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
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
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
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.