A special case
The Canadian GP held on Sunday offered spectacle and fun on the track, but also a lot of work behind the scenes for the stewards. One case in particular aroused curiosity because it led the commissioners to ‘invent’ a new penalty that had not yet been seen: the suspended stop and go. The protagonists of this particular story were Nico Hulkenberg and – as an ‘accomplice’ – Liam Lawson.
The facts, first of all: during the third reconnaissance lap, after the two aborted starts, Lawson, who was starting from 12th on the grid, unintentionally overtook Hulkenberg, who was instead in 11th place. The two then were no longer able to get back into the correct positions and overtook in reverse order compared to what they should have done according to the Safety Car Line 1 regulations.
The FIA explanation
“It was an unusual incident – the stewards themselves explained in the official document released by the FIA – car no. 27 was slower than reasonably expected, starting from its grid position for what would have been the third formation lap. Car no. 30 started earlier than expected and should have waited longer for car no. 27 to get going. During the formation lap, the driver of car 27 stated that he was unable to safely overtake car 30 to regain the correct position. However, although the cars were in the wrong order when crossing the SC1 line, it was not necessary to delay the start, it was not necessary to modify the starting grid, and there was no impact on the competition. Both cars started from the correct position”. Lawson got away with a reprimand, while evaluating Hulkenberg’s position according to the regulations became more complicated.
“The regulation – the commissioners wrote in the reasoning document – provides for a mandatory ‘Stop and Go’ penalty for cars that do not enter the pit lane if they have not regained the correct position by the first phase of SC1. However, in light of the mitigating circumstances mentioned above, the Commissioners consider that such a penalty is extremely severe and disproportionate to a violation of relatively modest extent and impact. Consequently, the Stop and Go penalty is suspended by virtue of the authority granted to the Commissioners under article 12.4.6 of the ISC”. Therefore Hulkenberg will race the rest of the season with a suspended ‘stop and go’ that must be served if the Audi German incurs another similar infraction by the end of the championship: “The penalty is suspended until the final race of the 2026 Championship – the commissioners reported – provided that no further similar infractions occur by this driver”. Jurisprudence is made.
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