Audi Fined at Sepang Over Premature Green Light

Audi has been sanctioned by the FIA after a safety error that occurred during a pit stop by Nico Hülkenberg at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, the German team received a fine of 30,000 euros for showing the green light to the driver when there was still a mechanic working in front of the car. An incident that although it did not come to occur as an "unsafe release" according to the regulations, did create a potentially dangerous situation that the stewards considered worthy of punishment.

The event took place when Hülkenberg entered the pits to change the four tires of his Audi R26, once the stop was completed, the team's automatic system showed the green light, indicating to the driver that he could leave his position. However a mechanic was still in front of the car, specifically next to the front left wheel, making an adjustment to the front wing. Hülkenberg began to move forward upon seeing the signal but the team's safety officer immediately detected that the mechanic was still in the trajectory and put the red light back on just 0.2 seconds later, the German reacted and stopped the car before completely leaving his position.

According to the FIA regulations a car is officially considered released from its pit position when its rear axle has passed the place previously occupied by the front axle while it was stopped, Hülkenberg did not advance enough to meet that definition so the stewards determined that there was no unsafe release in regulatory terms. However the green light appeared too early, with a mechanic still in front, and that justified the sanction.

"The stewards impose a fine of 30,000 euros of which 20,000 remain suspended for the rest of the 2026 season, as long as there are no more similar infractions" read the official statement from Race Direction. In practice Audi must pay 10,000 euros now, while the other 20,000 would only have to be paid if the team commits a similar infraction again in what remains of the season, the stewards also highlighted that Audi's secondary safety system worked correctly although the automatic system gave the green light ahead of time, there was a person in charge of manually checking that everything was clear and that person detected the problem immediately, changing the signal to red.

The sanction represents a serious warning for Audi about its safety procedures, in Formula 1 a pit exit does not simply consist of checking that the four wheels are changed, the team must ensure that no mechanic, tool or element of the car is still in the trajectory of the car before allowing the driver to leave, in this case the automatic system got ahead of that check and although the human control prevented the car from continuing to advance, the FIA wants to make clear that this type of error cannot be repeated.

The fine, with most of it suspended, is an incentive for Audi to review and improve its procedures and guarantee the safety of all those involved in pit stops.