Audi was fined €30,000 after a late pit stop at the 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia on Sunday, with €20,000 of the total suspended for twelve months. In practice, the team will pay €10,000 if it avoids a similar offence over the next year.
The incident happened during a safety-car service to Nico Hulkenberg’s car at Sepang. The automated release system flashed green while a mechanic was still working on the front wing. The car crept forward, the backup system flipped the light back to red within two tenths of a second, and Hulkenberg stopped before any contact.
Hulkenberg explained what had gone wrong in a brief post-race statement.
“The guy who does the front wing, somehow his screwdriver got stuck. It wasn’t the cleanest stop, but I hope he is okay,” he told RacingNews365.
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Not an unsafe release, but still unsafe
The stewards drew a careful line in their verdict. Because the car never left its pit box, they ruled it was not a formal unsafe release. The German manufacturer was still held responsible for the dangerous situation the premature green signal had created, with the mechanic still in front of the car near the left-front wheel.
Audi confirmed the crew member was unaffected and took part in the team’s subsequent pit stops.
Verstappen won after a 90-minute weather delay
Sepang was a difficult afternoon for everyone. Rain and lightning delayed the start by more than 90 minutes, and software issues hit the Ferrari-powered cars during the formation laps. Max Verstappen won the race ahead of Kimi Antonelli and Lewis Hamilton.
Hulkenberg crossed the line in 11th, 17.404 seconds behind Verstappen and one position outside the points. He told RacingNews365 it had been “a hell of a day with so many weird things happening in the race.”
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The sanction lands in a season Audi entered as a works team for the first time after taking over Sauber’s Hinwil operation. The suspended €20,000 runs for twelve months from the ruling; any similar offence in that window turns the full €30,000 live.
