Force India's Nico Hulkenberg has picked up a three-place grid penalty in China after a front wheel came adrift in Q2.
The FIA takes such occurrences seriously for obvious safety reasons, and the German was penalized for an unsafe release. He didn't take part in Q3 but officially qualified 10th before dropping to 13th, handing spots to Felipe Massa, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button.
“To be honest I don’t know what happened,” said Hulkenberg. “We all saw that the wheel came off, but why and how, I don’t know. It was attached properly when we left the garage because everything felt normal. It didn’t feel loose and there was no indication from the steering. When it came off, it happened suddenly, but I was at low speed and could park the car quickly and safely.
“It’s disappointing because we’ve been competitive here this weekend and I would have liked to be out there during Q3. The race tomorrow is going to be interesting, and hopefully things will work out a bit better than today.”
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