Nico Hulkenberg praises marshals despite Brazil disqualification: “They helped me, they were proud of themselves”. In the chaotic Brazilian GP at Interlagos, Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg was disqualified.

In the chaotic Brazilian GP at Interlagos, where Max Verstappen took another commanding win and strengthened his lead in the drivers’ standings, Nico Hulkenberg was disqualified. The German driver from Haas received a disqualification after track marshals helped him move his car, which was stuck in a drain. Regulations prohibit drivers from receiving outside assistance from marshals. The last drivers disqualified for this rule were Felipe Massa and Giancarlo Fisichella at the 2007 Canadian GP.

After the race, Nico Hulkenberg praised the marshals for their great work:

“We were doing well; it wasn’t terrible but not amazing either. But right after a pit stop, our race ended pretty quickly,” Hulkenberg told RacingNews365. “The marshals came onto the track, helped me, and were so proud of themselves—they were celebrating, pushing me forward, saying, ‘Come on, let’s go; the race isn’t over!’ At that moment, you don’t really think about it. You don’t care; you just go on and deal with the consequences later.”

Difficult Weekend for Haas
Overall, it was a tough weekend in Brazil for Haas, ending with no points. Oliver Bearman, who replaced Kevin Magnussen, struggled with the challenging conditions at Interlagos.

The double podium finish by Alpine pushed Haas down to seventh in the Constructors’ standings. Nico Hulkenberg didn’t hesitate to call it a “dark weekend”:

“It was one of the toughest conditions I’ve ever experienced in a race; grip was incredibly low, and the tire operating window was extremely narrow. It was very difficult not to make mistakes. We just have to reset. It was a really dark weekend for us, and we made a lot of wrong choices for one reason or another, but we just need to bounce back.”