FIA Confirms Late Demotion for Hulkenberg Ahead of Chinese

FIA Confirms Late Demotion for Hulkenberg Ahead of Chinese Grand Prix Sprint

In a last-minute development, the FIA has confirmed that Nico Hulkenberg will be starting the sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix from the pit lane. The decision comes after the Sauber team made unauthorized changes to the suspension set-up of his car under parc fermé conditions.

Jo Bauer, the FIA’s technical delegate, reported that Sauber adjusted Hulkenberg’s suspension after the designated time during which modifications are restricted. The parc fermé rules, derived from the French term meaning “closed park,” prohibit teams from making significant changes to a car’s setup once qualifying begins. These rules are implemented to ensure fairness and consistency across the race weekend.

Since the Chinese Grand Prix is operating under a sprint format, the parc fermé regulations came into effect much earlier than usual—after just one practice session, ahead of sprint qualifying. Teams must lock in most of their setup choices after that single session, making it a high-stakes decision-making environment.

Sauber’s decision to alter the suspension was a calculated one. By making changes under parc fermé, they knowingly accepted that Hulkenberg would be penalized with a pit-lane start. The stewards have now officially enforced this ruling.

While the penalty appears to be a setback, it may not heavily impact Hulkenberg’s race. The 37-year-old German was already set to start from 19th position in the sprint, limiting his chances of scoring points. With such a low starting position, Sauber likely judged that a strategic car adjustment was worth the cost of a pit-lane start if it could improve performance for the rest of the weekend. As a result, only one driver, Liam Lawson, benefits from the promotion up the starting grid.

Sauber’s tactical move suggests that the team is playing the long game—hoping to recover performance across both the sprint and Sunday’s main Grand Prix. In a sprint race, where only the top eight finishers are awarded points, the odds of Hulkenberg scoring from the back of the grid were already slim. Thus, the team may have felt that optimizing the car setup was the smarter option.

Sprint Race Points System

Since 2022, Formula 1 has adopted a more generous points system for sprint races. The winner earns eight points, second place receives seven, and so on down to one point for the eighth-place finisher. This replaced the original format introduced in 2021, which awarded just three points to the winner, two to the runner-up, and one point to third place—an approach that offered little incentive for midfield drivers to push harder in these shorter races.

The current system aims to reward competitiveness while keeping the Grand Prix on Sunday as the main highlight of the weekend. Notably, no points are awarded for the fastest lap in sprint races. Additionally, for the 2025 season, the rule for awarding a point for the fastest lap in regular Grand Prix races will also be scrapped.

Sprint Race Format

An F1 Sprint is a short-format race covering 100 kilometers—substantially shorter than a traditional Grand Prix, which spans 305 kilometers. Sprint races also do not require mandatory pit stops, so drivers typically choose a tire compound that can comfortably last the entire distance with minimal degradation.