How Hülkenberg’s out-of-bounds lap denied Albon Q2 in Bahrain

At the end of the Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying, a controversy erupted regarding driver Nico Hülkenberg, who advanced to Q2 with a lap that should have been invalidated for exceeding track limits. This error directly impacted Alex Albon, who was unfairly denied access to the second part of qualifying.

An illegal ride went unnoticed

The incident occurred when Hülkenberg completed his last flying lap in Q1, clearly exceeding track limits at turn 11. The Sauber driver himself admitted his mistake on the team radio by stating: « I messed up turn 11. » Despite this violation, his time of 1:31.998 allowed him to beat Albon by only 0.042 seconds, thus qualifying for Q2.

It was only after the start of Q2, when Hülkenberg had already taken part in the session, that the stewards were informed of the infraction. By that time, it was too late to allow Albon to participate in Q2, even though Hülkenberg’s time was eventually deleted. Indeed, after investigation, the stewards stated: « As this is an unusual situation, the stewards have decided to resolve this matter by exercising their authority in accordance with Article 11.9.2.a of the FIA International Sporting Code. » Consequently, Hülkenberg’s times recorded in Q1 and Q2 were deleted, placing him finally in 16th position, just behind Albon in 15th.

The FIA admits its fault, Vowles unhappy

James Vowles, director of the Williams team, did not hide his frustration with this situation that deprived his driver of a potential better position on the grid: “It’s frustrating because Q1 is now very tight. We did not execute the best lap with Alex, but it was a car capable of reaching the top 10 today,” he said after the qualifiers.

He also highlighted the inconsistency of the system, as other cases of track excursions had been dealt with relatively quickly: « You can see that the FIA reacted very quickly on certain laps, like those of Verstappen and Tsunoda, and generally their reaction time should be a few seconds. The question is why that wasn’t the case this time. »

The FIA acknowledged its mistake in a statement published after the qualifying sessions, admitting: “We were wrong.” The organization explained why the incident was not immediately detected: “There are several sensitive areas concerning track limits that are continuously monitored. Based on previous sessions, Turn 11 was not considered a priority area for track limits surveillance. In hindsight, this turn should have been higher on our priority list.”

The impact of this mistake goes far beyond the simple final standings of the qualifications. Vowles insisted that Albon could have significantly improved his position: « The fact that Hülkenberg is demoted behind us is great, but it doesn’t change the fact that we are probably six to eight places below our actual position, and this will not be corrected for tomorrow. »

A surveillance system to be improved

The FIA explained that its track limits monitoring system operates with priority areas equipped with special cameras. Turn 11 was not considered a sensitive area, so checking infractions at that location took longer: « Unfortunately, in this case, due to the timing of the review, it was not possible to act before the start of Q2. As soon as we became aware of the incident, we took action, » added the FIA in its statement.

This situation is reminiscent of a similar incident during the Austrian Grand Prix in 2022, where Sergio Perez was allowed to participate in Q3 while Pierre Gasly was denied this opportunity. The stewards handled both situations in the same way, relying on article 11.9.2.a of the FIA International Sporting Code, which grants them authority to resolve any issues that may arise during an event.

The automotive body, which relies on a team based in Geneva to analyze images in real-time, has promised to improve its systems and processes to prevent such incidents from happening again in the future: « We are working on increasing resources and improving systems and processes. », it stated. In the meantime, Alex Albon will have to settle for his 15th place on the starting grid for the Bahrain Grand Prix, a position that does not reflect the potential he could have shown if he had had the opportunity to participate in Q2.

Just like Vowles, the Thai driver believes that the Williams had the potential to aim for Q3, as evidenced by the performance of his teammate Carlos Sainz, who qualified 8th: He [Sainz] was good this weekend, and I think we’re quite close in performance. So I would say close to Q3, but it was always going to be tight. Regarding the race, he stated: Our race pace was good. The strategy is going to be important. It won’t be a Suzuka, there will be several laps, several different strategies. We’ll see which one will be right for us.