Driver disqualification confirmed as technical infringement uncovered in Azerbaijan qualifying

A technical infringement was uncovered after Baku qualifying, which resulted in Pierre Gasly being disqualified.

Pierre Gasly’s car was found to have exceeded the fuel flow limit during qualifying, placing his provisional grid slot of 13th place under threat.

Pierre Gasly disqualified from Baku qualifying results

The Alpine driver qualified in 13th place for Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, but that grid slot became under threat as a technical infringement on his car was uncovered during the session.

According to FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer, Gasly’s car was detected exceeding the maximum fuel flow permitted at any given moment. In theory, this spike would allow more horsepower to be exploited by the power unit.

“Car number 10, driver Pierre Gasly exceeded the instantaneous fuel mass flow at 16:38:54,” Bauer submitted in his documents to the stewards.

“As this is in breach of Article 5.2.3 of the 2024 Formula One Technical Regulations, I am referring this matter to the stewards for their consideration.”

Article 5.2.3. of the Technical Regulations are succinct, stating that: “Fuel mass flow must not exceed 100kg/h”.

The stewards summoned a representative from Alpine over the technical infringement, with the meeting with the stewards set for 18:30pm local time. The verdict was to disqualify Gasly from the Baku qualifying results, though he was given permission to race.

“The Stewards heard from the team representatives of Car 10 (Pierre Gasly), including the Sporting Director and the Engineer involved, and the FIA Technical Delegate along with the FIA Engineers managing the measurements and data from the car,” the stewards’ report began.

“The driver was summoned to give him the opportunity to provide a defence, but did not attend the hearing.

“The Technical Delegate reported that Car 10 exceeded the permitted 100Kg/h fuel mass flow on the final timed lap of Q2.

“The team representatives explained that they had an unexpected short duration technical fault that raised the fuel mass flow greater than expected in a transient fashion. The cause was agreed by the FIA technical staff.

“That the fuel mass flow was greater than the limit at that moment was not disputed by the competitor. The competitor demonstrated to the Stewards that the technical fault resulted in a slower lap time and that no performance advantage was obtained at that moment. Thus, they argue, this should be taken into mitigation.

“They also noted that the great rarity of breaches of this article demonstrates that this is not part of their strategy, and that the scale of the transient simply exceeded the margin they maintain to prevent a beach.

“The usual penalty for a breach of the technical regulations is disqualification and the Stewards note that Article 1.3.3 of the International Sporting Code states “If an Automobile is found not to comply with the applicable technical regulations, it shall be no defence to claim that no performance advantage was obtained.”

“In addition to the Code this has long been the position of the International Court of Appeal.

“Thus, the Stewards apply the usual penalty and disqualify the car and driver from the classification of qualifying.

“The Stewards hereby gives the car permission to start the race.”

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