Haas fined after Hulkenberg pit shunt

Haas has been fined €5,000 (AU$8,200) after Nico Hulkenberg ran over one of his own tyres following a pit stop during the sprint shootout in Austria.

After taking on a set of soft rubber, Hulkenberg pulled out of his grid box, but as he did so, he caught the front-left being held by one of the pit crew. The shunt launched the left-hand side of the car into the air.

Fortunately, there was no injury to the mechanic involved, with team principal Guenther Steiner claiming the incident “was more dramatic than it looked”.

But it has landed Haas with a fine for an unsafe release, albeit suspended until the end of the season on condition there is no further breach.

A stewards’ report read: “The team representative presented a comprehensive report of the investigations carried out by the team concerning the incident.

“It was clear that this was an unfortunate and unique incident in which the removed front-left wheel was held too close to the car, and the driver also took a sharper angle of departure due to the car controller of the next team in the pit lane standing further out towards the fast lane than normal.

“The stewards were impressed with the quality of the team investigations and report, and in particular, the corrective actions proposed to avoid a similar incident in the future.

“These corrective actions involve a change of procedures and crew positioning during a pitstop.”