Isack Hadjar has been officially disqualified from qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix after his Red Bull RB22 breached Formula 1 technical regulations. The 21-year-old Frenchman will start Sunday's race from the pitlane. The infraction involved floorboards protruding 2mm beyond permitted dimensions.
Stewards disqualified Hadjar's car following scrutineering after qualifying, where it was found in breach of Article C3.5.5 of the FIA F1 Regulations. Portions of the left-hand side and right-hand side floorboards protruded 2mm out of the reference volume RV-FLOOR BOARD. Team representatives did not dispute the technical delegate's findings, leading to the standard penalty for such a breach, as stated in the FIA announcement. Competitors may appeal under Article 15 of the FIA International Sporting Code and Chapter 5 of the FIA Judicial and Disciplinary Rules within time limits. Steward decisions are independent of the FIA and based solely on regulations and evidence presented. Hadjar had initially qualified ninth, a spot now taken by Pierre Gasly, with Audi's Nico Hulkenberg joining him on the fifth row. This marks a tough weekend for the Frenchman, who also failed to score in Saturday's sprint race despite qualifying ninth there. Red Bull team boss Laurent Mekies acknowledged the error, saying: “We made a mistake and we respect the decision of the stewards. No performance advantage was intended nor gained from the error.” He added: “We will learn from this incident and assess our processes to understand how it occurred and to take steps to ensure it cannot happen again. As a team, we apologise to Isack and to our fans and partners. We learn the hard way today, but we will move forward.” Red Bull's hopes now rest with Max Verstappen, who will start on the front row alongside polesitter Kimi Antonelli in a heavily upgraded RB22.
