Gasly disqualified from Baku qualifying after fuel flow infringement

Red Bull’s Pierre Gasly has been hit with his second major penalty of the weekend – this time for his Honda-powered RB15 exceeding fuel flow limits during qualifying.

The Frenchman, who was already set to start Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix from the pit lane after a weighbridge infraction in practice, was disqualified from the results of qualifying after it was found his car had exceeded the maximum allowed fuel mass flow of 100 kg/h.

“The stewards reviewed the evidence from the Technical Delegate and heard from the team representatives”, read a report from the stewards in Baku. “The Stewards find that the fuel mass flow exceeded 100 kg/hr during the fastest lap set by car 10.”

While Gasly's infringement breached Article 5.1.4 of F1's technical regulations, the penalty – like the five-place grid drop he'd also received for changing his car's gearbox – won't, in reality, have any bearing on the Frenchman given his existing weighbridge penalty. He'll now hope for some strong race pace to help him secure his third consecutive points finish in four events for Red Bull.