Nico Hulkenberg will start Saturday’s Chinese GP Sprint from the pit lane after Sauber changed the setup of is C45’s suspension.

Scoring points on his Sauber debut last time out in Australia where he was P7, those six points more than the team scored the entire 2024 season, Hulkenberg’s chances of adding to his tally in Saturday’s Sprint were undone by a lack of pace in Sprint Qualifying.

Chinese GP Sprint grid: Pit lane start for Nico Hulkenberg

The German finished SQ1 with a 1:32.675, knocked out of qualifying by a tenth of a second with his rookie team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto taking the final place in SQ2. The Brazilian would go onto qualify in 14th place while Hulkenberg watched on from the garage.

“Unfortunately, it was a short Sprint Qualifying session for me,” he said. “I think the first lap looked promising, but on the second run, many drivers managed to improve their lap times, whereas we didn’t.

“We’ll need to look into the data to understand what happened and how we can make further gains.

“In the morning in free practice my lap looked pretty competitive, but for some reason, we weren’t able to replicate that performance in this afternoon’s session.”

F1 2025 head-to-head stats

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

With only the top eight scoring points in the Sprint, what was already an uphill battle for Hulkenberg was dealt a further blow with the news that he will start the Sprint from the pit lane after Sauber changed the setup of his C45.

The stewards’ note read: ‘Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber changed the setup of the suspension of Car 27 under Parc Ferme, this not being in accordance with Article 40.9 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations.

‘Car 27 is therefore required to start the Sprint from pit lane.’

The revised Chinese GP Sprint Grid

1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:30.849
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +0.018
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.080
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.208
5 George Russell Mercedes +0.320
6 Lando Norris McLaren +0.544
7 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +0.889
8 Yuki Tsunoda Racing Bulls +0.924
9 Alexander Albon Williams +1.003
10 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +1.133
11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:31.815
12 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:31.978
13 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:32.325
14 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:32.564
15 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls no time
16 Jack Doohan Alpine 1:32.575
17 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:32.640
18 Esteban Ocon Haas F1 Team 1:32.651
19 Liam Lawson Red Bull Racing 1:32.729
20 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:32.675

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