F1 star hit with LATE punishment at Chinese Grand Prix

There has been a late demotion at the Chinese Grand Prix

Matthew Hobkinson Lead Editor

F1 Editor & Journalist

Saturday 22 March 2025 03:16 Updated: 03:31

Formula 1 star Nico Hulkenberg has been hit with a late demotion for the Chinese Grand Prix sprint race, and will be starting the short event from the pit lane.

The technical hit comes after the Sauber driver's car was worked on under parc ferme conditions before Saturday's sprint face, adjusting the suspension.

Parc ferme, which literally means 'closed park' in French, is a designated time when cars can no longer be modified beyond certain parameters during a race weekend.

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As Shanghai is a sprint race, with only one practice session taking place prior to sprint qualification, parc ferme conditions kicked in sooner than usual.

Therefore when Sauber made late suspension changes to Hulkenberg's car, they knew that this would incur a pit-lane start for the German driver – something that has now been confirmed in an official ruling from the stewards.

Sauber will be hoping that they can claw back the difference from a performance standpoint over the entire race weekend, perhaps aware that a 100km sprint where points are only awarded to the top eight drivers will be too big of an ask to achieve from a pit-lane start.

What points are on offer in F1 Sprint races?

In 2021, F1 drivers received three points for winning the Sprint, two for finishing second, and one for coming in third.

As this offered little to no incentive to put cars on the line for drivers in the midfield, this was altered in 2022 to the rewards system, which remains in place this year.

Keen to strike a balance that keeps Sunday’s grand prix as the main focus, a points system was agreed upon that sees the victor score eight, the second-place finisher seven, all the way down to eighth place, where one point is awarded.

There is no point handed out for setting the fastest lap in these shorter races, a rule which has now also been abolished for 2025 in the longer grands prix.