Going into the Monaco Grand Prix, Haas was confident the team could perform well. During the team’s media preview, team principal Ayao Komatsu noted that Haas “…did a good job in the wind tunnel achieving the level of downforce required in Monaco, which is different from usual.” Their efforts seemed to pay off on Saturday, when Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg both made it into Q2 and finished in the top 15 in qualifying.
However, the Haas duo will not start there tomorrow: both drivers were disqualified during post-qualifying scrutineering and will start from the pit lane with permission from F1 race officials.
Here’s why they were disqualified and why they started from the pit lane and are still in the competition.
What did Haas do wrong?
Following qualifying, the FIA technical delegate team carried out standard post-event inspections on the various cars in the field, and these inspections included checking the rear wings of various cars, including Hulkenberg’s #27 car and Magnussen’s #20 car.
As FIA Technical Delegate Joe Bauer noted in P3 and the Qualifying Scrutineering Report (Document 39): Available here — Both Haas cars failed rear wing inspection.
In the subsequent technical delegate’s report, Bauer noted that both Magnussen’s and Hulkenberg’s cars did not comply with the FIA technical regulations, specifically Article 3.10.10h) of the technical regulations. This subsequent report stated:
“The uppermost adjustable position of the rear wing elements of cars 20 and 27 have been checked. The LHS and RHS outermost areas of the adjustable elements exceeded the maximum permitted value of 85mm on both cars. This is not in compliance with TR article 3.10.10 h) and the matter will therefore be referred to the jury.”
Team representatives were summoned to meet with race officials and a hearing was held on the matter.
After a hearing, race officials disqualified both Magnussen and Hulkenberg from qualifying. In their decision report, the race stewards noted that, according to a Haas team representative, the non-compliance was due to track-specific modifications made to the rear wings of both cars before the Monaco Grand Prix.
“The team explained that this was the result of an inadvertent error in setting the wing flap gap. The wing used was a new design used for the first time in Monaco. The old design was set to comply with regulations with the maximum gap measured from the centre of the wing. In the new design, the maximum gap was at the edge of the wing, but the team had not trained their mechanics to set the gap according to the new design, resulting in a non-compliance.”
The team pleaded for leniency, arguing that its non-compliance did not give it a competitive advantage, but race officials pointed out that under Article 1.3.3 of the International Sporting Code, whether or not a competitive advantage was gained is irrelevant.
As a result, both drivers were disqualified from qualifying.
But they will be there tomorrow.
F1 and the 107% rule
Magnussen and Hulkenberg were disqualified and failed to record a time in qualifying.
However, despite that fact, there is still a mechanism in place to allow both drivers to be in the field, and this comes down to something known as F1’s “107% rule”.
Under this rule, any driver who fails to record a time within 107 percent of the fastest time recorded in Q1 will not be able to participate in the race unless cleared by race officials. The main reason for this rule is safety: a car that does not record a good enough time during qualifying could pose a danger during the Grand Prix.
but, Sporting Regulations Article 39.4Race officials are allowed to allow teams that violate the “107% rule” to compete in the race.[t]The participation of unclassified drivers in the remaining competition will be decided by the stewards on a case-by-case basis, who may, in exceptional cases, take into account parameters such as suitable lap times being recorded in a separate practice session.
After both Magnussen and Hulkenberg were disqualified, the team requested that both drivers be allowed to compete in the race, and race officials granted the request, stating that both Magnussen and Hulkenberg had “recorded satisfactory times during practice sessions for the event”.
Now, the question is math.
The top time in Q1 was 1:11.584, set by Charles Leclerc. This means that both Haas drivers would need to set a lap time faster than 1:16.595 to be satisfied with the ‘107% rule’. To calculate the time needed for the ‘107% rule’, convert the fastest Q1 time into seconds and multiply it by 1.07. In this example, Leclerc’s 1:11.584 would give him a ‘107% rule’ mark of 1.16.595.
(If you’ve read this far, please also take a look at our “F1 Glossary.”
Returning to this weekend, both Haas drivers were well below their records in P3 on Saturday in Monaco, with Magnussen recording a 1:12.216 and Hulkenberg a 1:12.192.
This gave race officials the freedom to field both drivers despite them not having set a time in qualifying due to disqualification, but due to sporting regulations they will start from the pit lane on Sunday.
They have a tough task ahead of them as they try to make their way up the ranks on the narrow streets of Monaco.
