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Hülkenberg Snatches P9 After Penalties at Abu Dhabi as Sauber Ends Season Ninth

Post-race steward rulings delivered Sauber its final points ahead of the team's 2026 switch to Audi.

Overview

  • Nico Hülkenberg was promoted to ninth when five‑second penalties for Lance Stroll and Oliver Bearman for repeated position changes on a straight altered the final order.
  • The reshuffle secured two late points for Sauber, sealing ninth in the Constructors' Championship with 70 points and leaving the team short of Haas.
  • From 18th on the grid, Hülkenberg started on softs, pitted early for hards, and fought to 11th on track before the post-race changes.
  • The recovery came after a qualifying exit he called “miserable,” criticizing Sauber’s late-run timing and traffic management.
  • Rookie Gabriel Bortoleto qualified seventh by a whisker off sixth but finished 11th, as attention shifts to the Audi transition and Hülkenberg marked his 250th Grand Prix.