Hulkenberg dropped from 7th to 8th after penalty

Nico Hulkenberg has been handed a one-place grid penalty for the German Grand Prix after a tyre allocation mix up saw him use the wrong set in qualifying.

The Force India driver used tyres in Q1 that should have been returned to Pirelli after FP3 after an error, resulting in a breach of Article 24.3 e) of the Sporting Regulations.

Justified as the team having 'returned electronically the wrong set of tyres' which went on to be used in Q1, Hulkenberg will start eighth on the grid having qualified seventh originally. Valtteri Bottas rises to seventh in his place.

Speaking ahead of the ruling, Hulkenberg was otherwise pleased with his performance as - on the timesheets - best of the rest behind Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari.

"It was positive, a good day. I think seventh is the best we could have hoped for and achieved today. Only the top three teams are ahead of us, so it's good."