Nico Hulkenberg spoke of his confusion at what he branded a “peculiar” incident with Lance Stroll in the pitlane in qualifying at Formula 1‘s Belgian Grand Prix.
The German attempted to join the queue of cars leaving the pits at the start of Q1 at Spa-Francorchamps, but he collided with the Canadian’s Aston Martin.
The small collision resulted in Hulkenberg’s Sauber sustaining front wing damage, and both men were summoned to the stewards after the session.
Hulkenberg felt that he was in the right, telling media including Motorsport Week that he felt he was sufficiently ahead of Stroll when leaving his pit box.
“When you have a front wheel crossing that white line between the pitlane, the fast lane and the slow lane, the next driver is supposed to let you in, slot you in,” he said. “And I believe my tyre was there, so I thought he would let me in, and then he didn’t.
“So we touched. A bit peculiar and obviously unnecessary that we lose a front wing like this. I hope we can recover it.”
When asked if he thought he would be vindicated, Hulkenberg responded: “Well, we’ll see. I think we’ll go to the stewards and see what they say.”
Stroll shifts blame as Hulkenberg heading for ‘tough and difficult’ race
The incident will be open to debate, with Stroll also claiming he was in the right, saying: “I was just doing my thing in the queue and, yeah, I think he was trying to get his nose in the queue.
“I didn’t have to [let him in]. I mean, I was in the queue.”
The race director’s notes stated that: “Once a car has left its garage or pitstop position, it should blend into the fast lane as soon as it is safe to do so, and without unnecessarily impeding cars which are already in the fast lane.
“Thus, after the start or restart of a free practice session, sprint qualifying or qualifying session, if there is a suitable gap in a queue of cars in the fast lane, such that a driver can blend into the fast lane safely and without unnecessarily impeding cars already in the fast lane, they are free to do so.”
Hulkenberg isn’t feeling optimistic for Sunday’s race and feels a repeat of his podium heroics from Silverstone last time out is unlikely.
“It’s very tough and difficult, especially around here in Spa,” he conceded. “It’s such a long lap as well.
“It can be very different conditions between one place and another place on the track, so difficult task for everyone coming up I would say.”
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