Why was Esteban Ocon disqualified from the Baku qualifying?
Following a tough qualifying session, Haas driver Esteban Ocon has been disqualified from Saturday's qualifying session at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix for a technical infringement.
Esteban Ocon endured a tough qualifying session. The French driver ended up only 18th fastest despite Haas' promising pace on the opening day at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
However, Ocon and Haas were summoned to see the stewards over an alleged breach of Article 3.15.17 of the FIA Technical Regulations – relating to the rear wing main plane tip deflection test.
FIA's technical delegate Jo Bauer noted that the the deflection figures showed that the rear wing on the Haas car's rear wing exceeded the allowed deflection of 0.5mm.
As a result of the technical violation, the stewards later confirmed that Ocon had been disqualified from the session, which means that the Frenchman will lose two places and will start the Baku race from P20 on the grid.
Explaining the incident, the stewards noted: "The Stewards heard from the team representative of Car 31 and the Haas Head of Car Engineering, plus the FIA Technical Delegate and FIA Deputy Technical Delegate. The driver (Esteban Ocon) was excused from the hearing.
"The FIA representatives described the test procedure used and reported that the distance between the two sections of RV-RW-PROFILES and RV-RW-TIP inboard of Y=525 varied by more than the permitted 0.5mm (0.6mm on the left side and 0.825mm on the right side.
"The calibration of the measuring instrument was verified and valid. The team conceded that the test procedure as outlined in the regulations had been followed and explained that the discrepancy was a result of a problem with the production of the assembly of this specific part.
"The Stewards determine that the vehicle does not comply with the regulations and hence impose the usual penalty of disqualification from the Qualifying classifications."
