Nico Hulkenberg has been reprimanded for his pit-lane collision with Lance Stroll during Belgian Grand Prix qualifying.
As the cars queued up for the start of Q1, Hulkenberg's Stake was not in the fast lane, and tried to put a wheel into the fast lane to earn the right of way, as per the race director's notes.
However, as traffic in front pulled away, Stroll in the Aston Martin refused to give way and collided at low speed with Hulkenberg, who required a front wing change after sustaining end-plate damage.
Stroll continued on his way, with the incident being investigated after the session.
In their verdict, the stewards found Stake and Hulkenberg guilty on the first count, which was entering the fast lane in the pits when Stroll had priority, which is what the reprimand was given for.
On the second count, which was causing a collision, the officials deemed neither was "wholly or predominantly to blame" and thus decided no further action was required.
The full reason provided by the stewards for their decision is outlined below.
Reason for stewards' decision
"The Race Director’s notes state 'any car driven to the end of the Pit Lane prior to the start... of a session must form up in a line in the fast lane and leave in the order they got there. It is noted that the car will be considered to be in the fast lane when a tyre has crossed the solid white line separating the fast lane from the inner lane. In this context “crossing” means that all of the tyre should be beyond the far side….of the line…'
"In this case, no tyre of Car 27 complied with the above prior to the start of the session, in which case, Car 18 is considered to have priority in the line. Therefore Car 27 should have merged into the line when there was a 'suitable gap' and in this case no such gap existed.
"At all times the driver of Car 27 was following team instructions either by radio or hand signal from a team member.
"Accordingly, Car 27 breached Article 34.8 and the penalty is applied to the team."
"In relation to the subsequent collision that occurred, both cars appeared to move, under instructions from their team, at the same time and inadvertently collided. We consider that no driver was wholly or predominantly to blame and hence take no further action in relation to Causing a Collision."
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