Sauber Boss Beat Zehnder Baffled by Nico Hulkenberg’s Bahrain GP

Sauber Boss Beat Zehnder Baffled by Nico Hulkenberg’s Bahrain GP Disqualification

Sauber team manager Beat Zehnder has expressed his confusion and disappointment following the disqualification of Nico Hulkenberg from the 2025 Bahrain Grand Prix, due to a breach of Formula 1’s technical regulations.

Hulkenberg, who originally finished the race in 13th place, was removed from the final classification after a post-race inspection revealed excessive wear on his car’s skid block. According to FIA rules, the plank on the underside of the car — often referred to as the skid block — must maintain a minimum thickness of 9mm. However, Hulkenberg’s car was found to be below that limit, leading to his exclusion from the results.

Although the team did not lose any championship points as Hulkenberg had finished outside the top 10, the incident has raised internal concerns at Sauber. Speaking to Motorsport.com, Zehnder admitted that the team was puzzled by the cause of the wear and stressed that the issue should never have occurred in the first place.

“Apparently the skids were measured below the 9mm minimum,” Zehnder explained. “You go through the weekend running all the sessions — FP1, FP2, FP3 — and you’re constantly checking your references. We thought everything was fine, so to see the skid wear beyond the acceptable limit after the race was a surprise.”

Zehnder noted that one possible factor may have been the limited running Hulkenberg completed during the final practice session. In FP3, the German only completed a few laps, which may have reduced the team’s data reference for race setup. Even so, Zehnder believes this alone doesn’t fully account for the violation.

“Maybe the limited laps in FP3 affected our data, but that still doesn’t explain everything,” he continued. “Regardless, it shouldn’t have happened. We must ensure that we prevent such mistakes moving forward.”

The team manager acknowledged that different track characteristics — such as the tendency for cars to bottom out or the frequent use of curbs — can influence plank wear. However, he maintained that Sauber did not deliberately push the limits of the regulation.

“It’s something you always have to consider — if the circuit causes bouncing or if the car rides curbs heavily, it can increase wear on the skid block,” said Zehnder. “But there was never any intention on our part to gain an illegal advantage. Can you imagine the consequences if we had actually scored points and then lost them? That would have been even worse.”

The disqualification marks a rare and frustrating technical setback for the experienced Sauber team, which has been part of Formula 1 for over three decades. Although the incident didn’t cost them any championship points, it has served as a wake-up call to tighten procedures around ride height and skid plank monitoring.

As Formula 1 teams continue to push the limits of performance while adhering to strict technical regulations, incidents like Hulkenberg’s disqualification serve as a reminder of how small oversights can have costly consequences — even when they don’t affect the outcome in terms of points.

Zehnder emphasized that lessons have been learned, and that the team is already working on measures to ensure such issues do not recur in future races.