AMuS on Hulkenberg failure: 'Alarm bells should go off at Ferrari'

Nico Hulkenberg finished the race in Australia eighth but was classified seventh due to Carlos Sainz's time penalty, but German was close to not finishing at all. Just after the finish, he had to park his Haas at turn two with an engine problem, which the Ferrari engines also suffered from last year.

Hulkenberg was unlucky with how the FIA handled the chaos after the third and final standing restart. A lot of drivers hit each other and made mistakes. But the German was not affected by anything and was fourth after three corners, behind the eventually penalised Carlos Sainz, which meant he was actually on course for a podium. But to the anger of Haas, the FIA based the final result of the race on the starting position of that last restart and not on the position after that restart, meaning Hulkenberg did not go to the podium.

Known problem with Ferrari engines

According to the usually well-informed Auto, Motor und Sport (AMuS), Hulkenberg stopped with a problem that was also known to Ferrari last year, so it does not seem that this problem has been solved yet. "The MGU-K failed. That's why the car was electrically charged when Hulkenberg parked it near the first corner. Alarm bells must also be ringing at Ferrari. At Haas alone, the MGU-K caused problems four times last year," reports the German source.