Following an eventful race at the Bahrain Grand Prix, where Oscar Piastri became the first driver in 2025 to get multiple wins. Mercedes’ George Russell followed closely behind at P2 while teammate Lando Norris failed to close the gap and finished P3. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished P4 despite a brilliant battle with Norris while his teammate, seven time World Champion Lewis Hamilton had to settle for P5.
While the race was nothing short of exciting, not many had positive results. Kick Sauber F1 driver Nico Hulkenberg has been disqualified from the Bahrain Grand Prix following his P13 finish in the race. Post-race inspections found that Hulkenberg’s car had sustained excessive wear to the plank.
FIA subsequently released a statement that said:
“The plank assembly of Car 27 was measured and found to be 8.4 (LHS), 8.5mm (car centreline) and 8.4mm (RHS), this is below the minimum thickness of 9,, specified under Article 3.5.8 e) of the Technical Regulations.”
This disqualification was similar to the case of Hamilton at the China GP, where both Ferrari drivers were disqualified after their cars failed to meet the post-race technical inspections.
This is the first time in F1 history where four drivers have been disqualified in three races—which is one too many.
The Kick Sauber F1 team later clarified and stated that it was a genuine error by the team.