Haas drivers disqualified at Monaco for technical infringements

Thunderstruck at Haas this Saturday night. We learn that the two drivers of the American team have been disqualified from the qualifying session of the Monaco Grand Prix due to a technical infringement concerning the rear wing element of the car. A decision that follows the discovery of a non-compliant element by the FIA Technical Delegate.

According to the race stewards, Kevin Magnussen’s and Nico Hülkenberg’s rear wing mainplanes exceeded the maximum adjustable positions allowed by Article 3.10.10.h of the Formula 1 Technical Regulations, set at 85 mm.

Haas explained that this non-compliance was due to an unintentional error in adjusting the gap of the wing flap . « The wing used in Monaco was of a new design, tested for the first time this weekend. The previous design complied with the regulations with the largest gap measured from the center of the wing. However, with the new design, the largest gap was at the ends of the wing, and the team had not trained its mechanics to adjust the gap according to this new design, thus resulting in non-compliance », according to an FIA statement.

Even though the team assured that there was no performance advantage due to this non-compliance, Article 1.3.3 of the International Sporting Code specifies that this is irrelevant. The team acknowledged its mistake in a candid manner and the FIA Technical Delegate as well as the FIA technical directors confirmed that they were satisfied with the explanation provided by the team.

Due to this recognized infraction, the commissioners have decided to disqualify both cars from their qualifying classification. Kevin Magnussen was supposed to start in 15th place and Nico Hülkenberg in 12th place. It is worth noting that both drivers will still start after a request from Haas to the commissioners, which was granted under Article 39.4 of the FIA Sporting Regulations. They will therefore have to start the race on Sunday from the back of the grid, Hülkenberg 19th and Magnussen 20th, a position that will make scoring points even more challenging.

This disqualification is a double blow for the Haas team, which will now have to review its procedures and ensure that all necessary measures are taken to comply with the technical regulations in the future.

Another incident involving Hülkenberg

Nico Hülkenberg was involved in another incident during Saturday’s qualifying. According to the stewards, he allegedly unnecessarily impeded Esteban Ocon in turn 3, which could constitute a breach of Article 37.5 of the FIA Sporting Regulations.

After hearing the statements of both pilots, team representatives, and reviewing the videos, radio communications, and on-board video evidence, the stewards have decided not to take any further action, indicates a statement from the FIA.

According to the gathered testimonies, Esteban Ocon was on a fast lap when he caught up with Nico Hülkenberg at turn 3. Haas then tried to warn Hülkenberg of Ocon’s imminent arrival, but the radio communication system was not functioning reliably, and the messages were not received by the driver.

The stewards also heard the team’s radio messages intended for Hülkenberg, but it seems that these messages were not transmitted to the car. For his part, Ocon confirmed that he too had encountered communication problems. Other teams also reported intermittent interruptions of radio messages during the day.

Ocon acknowledged that, given that the entry of turn 3 is blind, Hülkenberg couldn’t know that he was approaching without a radio warning. He also indicated that, despite catching up to car 27, he was not materially impacted by Hülkenberg, as the latter accelerated at turn 4.