Nico Hulkenberg revealed Liam Lawson inadvertently caused him to retire from the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.
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His Audi shut down completely after being struck by gravel thrown up by Lawson’s car.
“It was a very sudden death,” Hulkenberg said. “Liam, just in front of me, put a wheel into the gravel at the exit of turn 12 which kicked up a lot of gravel.
“It hit our car so badly it struck some electrical components and actually pulled the safety trigger on the side of the car, which completely kills the entire car. So a complete switch-off and game over.”
Hulkenberg’s car lost all power after the gravel impact. He was able to coast back to the pits, where he retired from the race. His team initially believed he was pitting and changed his tyres before realising the severity of the failure.
Audi confirmed the gravel struck the fire extinguisher and the ERS kill switch, a safety feature that deactivates the car in an emergency.
“It was a very frustrating end to what had been a very good weekend for us as a team,” said racing director Allan McNish. “Nico’s car shut down after Lawson ran wide and kicked up gravel, which struck the safety fire switch.
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“That triggered an automatic safety function designed to shut the car down in an emergency situation. Nico was able to return to the pits under his own momentum, but unfortunately that was the end of his race.”
The stewards also explained why Hulkenberg received no penalty after leaving the track at turn one on lap one and rejoining ahead of a rival.
“Cars 41 [Arvid Lindblad], 27 [Hulkenberg] and 43 [Franco Colapinto] were alongside each other going into turn one after the race start,” they stated. “Car 27 left the track and rejoined behind car 41 and ahead of car 43.
“The stewards considered the positioning of the cars before entering turn 1 (i.e. the braking point) and the circumstances under which the cars left the track. They also took into account that the incident happened on lap one at turn one. The stewards determine that no lasting advantage has been gained by car 27 and take no further action.”
Lindblad was similarly cleared for having ceded position to Hulkenberg during the same incident.
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