Nico Hülkenberg (Audi) in Mexico: temperature problems and the Bearman crash

A difficult race weekend for Nico Hülkenberg and Audi in Mexico City. The closing stages of the Mexican Grand Prix were heated. German Audi driver Nico Hülkenberg was among the drivers who received a time penalty during the race. Hülkenberg had collided with Haas driver Oliver ‘Ollie’ Bearman at Turn 4 during the restart following a red flag (due to Valtteri Bottas’s crash). That was the end of the race for the Briton. Hülkenberg dropped from 10th to 15th place – and was handed a 10-second penalty.

Nico Hülkenberg apologises

Speaking after the race, Hülkenberg said of the incident: “It was pretty tight and fiercely contested. And yes, I was right behind Oliver; there was a whole line of cars bunched up together. As I was so close to him, I lost a bit of downforce at the front and couldn’t bring the car to a stop in time. I grazed the rear of his car. I apologise to him for that. It wasn’t intentional, of course. But unfortunately, as we all know, these things are a fine line to walk.”

Hülkenberg finished in sixteenth place but was subsequently promoted to fourteenth following time penalties imposed on Pierre Gasly, Franco Colapinto (both Alpine) and Oscar Piastri (McLaren).

Audi struggled at 2,200 metres

Even aside from the incident with Piastri, it wasn’t an easy race weekend for the Audi team. The German manufacturer struggled due to the altitude of around 2,200 metres. The altitude, with its correspondingly low oxygen levels, presents a particular challenge.

Hülkenberg: “We had problems with the temperatures throughout, which made it difficult for us to really get into a position where we could compete. All in all, it wasn’t a particularly smooth weekend for us as a team. There are a few things we need to investigate and understand, but with Brazil just around the corner, we’ll take the best from this race, make a fresh start and go on the attack again.” Interlagos is also at a slight altitude, but only around 770 metres.

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Audi’s racing director Allan McNish explained: “Overall, it was a challenging weekend for us here in Mexico City. The altitude places particular demands on the cars, and the whole team worked extremely hard to ensure that both cars ran reliably and were able to fight for points in the end.” As a result of the penalties, Hülkenberg’s team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto moved into the points.