Hulkenberg sidelined from Sao Paulo practice after Audi fault

Nico Hulkenberg will not run on track at all on Friday at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix after technical problems with his Audi. He had already stood down from the first practice session at Interlagos in favour of Freddie Slater, who suffered an early stoppage on track.

Slater's car was recovered to the garage, where the team worked to diagnose the issue. The fault was identified but could not be fixed in time, and Audi confirmed that Hulkenberg was formally out of the second practice session, 17 minutes into the running. His car was seen up on jacks with mechanics working underneath around the time he was ruled out.