HOCKENHEIM, Germany -- Nico Hulkenberg has been penalised one place on the German Grand Prix grid after using a set of tyres during qualifying that should have been returned after final practice.
After each practice session, teams are required to return two sets of tyres to Pirelli in order to leave them with seven for qualifying and the race. The teams can choose which compounds they keep in store, but must electronically register which tyres they intend to return at the end of each session in order to allow the FIA to keep records of which tyres have been returned.
In Force India's case in Germany, the team returned a different set of tyres to the ones it electronically registered and received a one-place penalty for Hulkenberg as a result. Hulkenberg will now start eighth on the grid, behind Valtteri Bottas and ahead of teammate Sergio Perez.