Hulkenberg blamed for La Source pile-up

Nico Hulkenberg faces a 10-place grid penalty at this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix for causing the dramatic first-corner crash that sent Fernando Alonso airborne and over Charles Leclerc at Spa. The German locked up both front wheels under braking for La Source after the start and ran into the back of Alonso, pitching the Mclaren over the top of Leclerc’s Sauber. Leclerc’s halo was damaged by the flying MCL33, which also hit Daniel Ricciardo on its way through the air and broke the Red Bull’s rear wing. Hulkenberg, Alonso and Leclerc were eliminated from the race immediately, but fortunately escaped unharmed. As well as the Monza grid penalty, Hulkenberg has been handed three penalty points on his superlicence for the crash. The FIA said the German“completely misjudged the situation and freely admitted it was his mistake”. Hulkenberg later said he was probably“a bit too keen”under braking, although suggested he was not helped by“how sensitive these cars are with aerodynamics”. Alonso, speaking immediately after the accident, was unimpressed by Hulkenberg’s mistake, and drew parallels with the 2012 shunt at Spa in which he was also involved that earned Romain Grosjean a one-race ban. “It’s hard to understand how you can miss a braking point that much,”said Alonso.“you arrive at a speed where it’s impossible to negotiate the corner.” Such a punishment was not considered by the stewards on this occasion. In their explanation, they pointed out that the penalty points system had been introduced as a means of ensuring repeat offenders were sanctioned more heavily. This is not something that was in place six years ago, which is why Grosjean was banned for Monza.

After watching a replay, Leclerc said he did not believe Hulkenberg deserved a ban.“nico is not a driver that has a past and you can see it’s not deliberate what he did,” said Leclerc.“i don’t think [a ban is right] for this type of mistake. If something is deliberate and dangerous then a ban should occur but not in this situation.” The halo was introduced this season to improve driver safety. Leclerc was completely unhurt in the crash, and said:“looking at the images it’s quite spectacular but it was not that big in the car. “I don’t know how it would have ended up without [the halo], but looking at it, I’m happy it was there.”