The new technical directive could have led to Ferrari’s disqualification at the Barcelona Grand Prix: it concerns the front wing of the SF-25. Many were waiting to see the effects of the changes introduced by the FIA during the Montmelò weekend. Between a possible step back for McLaren and a grid that could have become much closer, the team most affected by the new technical directive could have been Ferrari, which risked disqualification in Barcelona.
The shocking behind-the-scenes story from Barcelona
According to Michael Schmidt from AMuS, during the free practice sessions of the Spanish GP the FIA found irregularities on a deflector present on the front wing brought to the track by the Italian team after the introduction of the new rules on wing flexibility. Maranello’s technicians were then able to intervene in time, allowing Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc to take the track for qualifying with a wing legal from a regulatory point of view.
Otherwise, given the parc fermé rules, the two SF-25 cars would have been disqualified at the end of the race. A scenario which, if it had happened, would have sparked new controversies around Ferrari. Already in China, irregular elements had been found on the two Maranello cars which led to a double zero in the standings.
Instead, Ferrari came out of Barcelona with a nice haul of points that allowed it to make significant progress in the standings. Ferrari is currently second in the constructors’ championship, almost two hundred points behind a McLaren that is increasingly dominant this season. For Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, it will now be crucial to maintain this consistency of results to try, who knows, to fight again for something important.
