Nico Hülkenberg received a ten-second penalty in Brazil: Audi’s racing director Allan McNish explains why the team considers the FIA’s decision to be contentious
Audi driver Nico Hülkenberg received a ten-second time penalty at the 2026 São Paulo Grand Prix for overtaking Alpine driver Franco Colapinto off the track on lap 49. However, Audi racing director Allan McNish cannot quite understand this penalty.
McNish said: “Colapinto was on old tyres at the end of his stint and was just trying to keep his head above water. He ran wide at Turn 1. He did it again because Nico was on the outside next to him. He simply pushed him wide and missed the apex.” As a result, Hülkenberg had to swerve and passed Colapinto in the run-off area – which Colapinto immediately reported over the radio as a breach of the rules.
The FIA Stewards also deemed the manoeuvre to be an invalid overtaking manoeuvre. “It was decided that he had gained a lasting advantage,” said McNish. However, for Audi, the incident was “not clear-cut”. That is why the team did not instruct Hülkenberg to give the position back to Colapinto.
Why Audi did not give the position back
McNish explained: “Normally, you are entitled to be awarded the position if you are ahead at the apex. However, exactly where the apex of Turn 1 is lies is highly subjective, because the track slopes down from there into the S-bend.”
“In any case, Colapinto never hit the apex. He wasn’t even close to it. He was a long way from the apex. But the FIA has defined where the apex line lies. And by that point, Colapinto had already drifted well outwards.”
“That’s why it was a very contentious situation for us,” said Audi’s racing director McNish. He admitted: “We really didn’t know how to handle it. If we’d given the position back, we’d have been stuck in the same situation again.” That is, behind Colapinto, whom Hülkenberg had been trying to overtake for laps on end.
“On top of that, by the time we were able to review the situation, Nico had already pulled so far ahead. He’d gained 1.8 or two seconds on that lap,” said McNish. “And it wasn’t clear to us that it wasn’t Nico’s corner. That’s probably the best way to put it. But of course, you always have to abide by the decision of the FIA Stewards.”
Hülkenberg scores a World Championship point despite a time penalty
Ultimately, the time penalty imposed on Hülkenberg – served during his final pit stop on lap 61 – had no consequences: Hülkenberg crossed the line 12.7 seconds behind Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton and, finishing tenth, secured another World Championship point for Audi – around two seconds ahead of Racing Bulls driver Arvid Lindblad in eleventh place. Hülkenberg’s team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto, in the second Audi, finished 16th without scoring any points.