Esteban Ocon disqualified: Haas rear wing flexed beyond limits due to assembly defect | Azerbaijan qualifying. Esteban Ocon was disqualified from Baku qualifying after his Haas rear wing flexed beyond FIA limits.

Esteban Ocon was excluded from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying session due to a technical irregularity on his Haas car. The rear wing, specifically in the area between the mainplane and the DRS flap, flexed beyond the 0.5 mm limit set by the FIA (0.6 mm on the left, 0.85 mm on the right) due to an assembly defect.

Impact on the Baku qualifying results

The Azerbaijan GP classification was adjusted, although the top positions remained unchanged. Ocon failed the FIA post-session checks for rear wing flexibility, leading to his disqualification from the qualifying results.

During post-session technical inspections, FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer reported that Ocon’s car did not pass the “tip deflection test” for the rear wing mainplane. Measurements revealed deformation exceeding the 0.5 mm regulatory limit, with both sides showing values above the allowed margin.

Changes to the rules

At the start of the season, the regulations allowed a maximum “gap”—the space between the mainplane and the DRS flap at maximum flex—of 1 mm. Following concerns that some teams were exploiting this tolerance for aerodynamic advantage, the FIA reduced the maximum flexibility to 0.5 mm from the Chinese GP onward.

With Haas’s rear wing measuring 0.6 mm on the left and 0.85 mm on the right, both above the new 0.5 mm limit, the stewards had no choice but to remove the French driver from the qualifying classification.

Haas response

The team confirmed that the testing procedure, as described in the regulations, had been correctly followed. They clarified that the discrepancy was not due to an error in inspection or misinterpretation of the rules, but rather a production and assembly issue with this specific component.

According to Haas, the defect was an isolated manufacturing and assembly anomaly. Ocon’s teammate, Oliver Bearman, who used the same wing specification, passed all FIA technical checks without issues.

Ocon’s qualifying struggles

Even before the disqualification, Ocon had already experienced a frustrating day, struggling with performance issues that compromised his competitiveness and resulted in an eighteenth-place finish in qualifying.

The French driver complained of braking difficulties, which caused numerous lock-ups in both FP3 and Q1, hampering his performance and leading to early elimination. Additionally, Ocon had initially chosen a higher-downforce rear wing yesterday but switched today to the lower-downforce configuration following his teammate’s choice.

Ocon reflects on the challenges

“Sometimes we’ve had a few braking issues, but today was extraordinary. It was crazy. The same thing happened in FP3: I was braking with 30 to 40 bars less pressure than my teammate and still couldn’t stop the car because of lock-ups. I went straight into the run-off areas,” Ocon explained after qualifying.

“I don’t think I’ve ever gone off track this often at this circuit before this year. In qualifying, when I tried to brake a little harder, I locked the wheels, missed the corner apex, and it cost me dearly.”