Audi received a €30,000 fine from the Formula 1 stewards, of which €20,000 is suspended, due to a dangerous release involving Nico Hülkenberg during the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday (3).
During the final pit-stop under the safety-car regime, there was confusion involving the driver, who appeared to move while a mechanic was adjusting his front wing. The German received the green light to proceed, but stopped after a 0.2-second interval, avoiding contact with the technician.
This occurred as part of Audi’s release procedure, which includes a manual safety check carried out by an official. This person halted the car by turning the light back to red, stopping Hülkenberg – at that moment the car had not yet passed the point where a release would be deemed dangerous.
However, the stewards concluded that while there was no unsafe release, there was a dangerous situation caused by the competitor’s premature release and issued the fine to the team, with two-thirds suspended for one year.
That means that if Audi does not become involved in a similar situation in the next 12 months, it will only have to pay €10,000.
