Explained: Why was Esteban Ocon disqualified from the F1 Azerbaijan GP qualifying

Esteban Ocon was disqualified from the qualifying session for the Azerbaijan GP, as his Haas VF-25 failed a post-qualifying FIA test. His car's rear wing was found to be deflecting excessively under the vertical loads, a rule which was made even stricter during the early part of the 2025 season.

During the 2025 season, the flexi-wing debacle led the FIA to alter Article 3.15.17 of the technical regulations, which had decreased the allowed limit of the rear wing main plane's deflection from 2mm to 0.5mm, as the governing body stated earlier in the year:

"Article 3.15.17, introduced in 2025, states that if 75kg of vertical load is applied on either extremity of the rear wing mainplane, the distance between the mainplane and the flap (also known as “slot gap”) must not vary by more than 2mm. From the forthcoming Grand Prix in Shanghai, this limit will be reduced to 0.5mm."

This meant that when Ocon's car was tested for such vertical loads by the FIA officials, where his car was found to be non-compliant, as the main tip deflected by 0.6mm on the left side and 0.825mm on the right side of the wing plane. This led FIA Technical Delegate Jo Bauer to report the issue to the stewards.

Subsequently, stewards sent summons to Ocon and Haas' team representatives for a hearing on the matter at 19:45 AZT. Here, the team accepted their mistake as they claimed the issue was due to a production problem that occurred during the assembly of this specific part.

This means that Esteban Ocon was disqualified from the session and would give up his 18th-place qualification for a start at the rear of the grid, if the team does not opt for a pitlane start by working on the car during parc fermé conditions.

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A day turned from bad to worse for Esteban Ocon

Esteban Ocon driving the Haas VF-25 during a practice session at the 2025 Azerbaijan GP weekend - Source: Getty

Esteban Ocon has had some decent qualifying sessions during the 2025 season. However, his attempt around the Baku City Circuit was not one of them.

The 29-year-old originally qualified 18th, ahead of two drivers who had a scrappy Q1 session themselves, as Alex Albon crashed in the early minutes of Q1, while Pierre Gasly went into the runoff on his final run at turn 4. Moreover, this disqualification has further rubbed salt on his wounds.

So, even before the announcement about his disqualification was made, he was already dejected by his performance, as he said (via Haas):

"I was locking up in each of my laps, we had big issues with braking. We had it yesterday, but even more so today, so I’m really disappointed as I think there’s more in the car than that. Today’s disappointing to be where we are, but tomorrow hopefully we’ll come back and take every opportunity that presents itself."

Ocon has scored a solitary point over the past five race weekends, and his qualification disqualification could possibly line him up for another race outside the points, owing to Haas' timid pace earlier in the Azerbaijan GP weekend.