Bizarre scenes as 38 drivers disqualified from Valencia qualifying session

Formula Winter Series

If you thought Austria was the worst circuit for track limits, think again as the entire grid in Valencia was disqualified during the Formula Winter Series.

FWS is hosting its second round of the season this weekend at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, but the proceedings on Saturday got off to an unusual start when not one driver set a legal qualifying time.

Every driver was found to have breached tack limits at Turns 1 and 6 leading to the bizarre situation when no one was awarded pole position.

Instead, the organiser had to revert back to the Friday practice session timings in order to determine who would start where during the race.

The Formula Winter Series is a Spanish competition which sees drivers compete in F4 cars during a number of events in a weekend.

After four races, Peruvian Andrés Cárdenas leads the way having won two of the opening events so far.

It is not the first time track limits have come to the forefront after stewards were left deliberating for hours following the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix.

After the conclusion of the race, Aston Martin protested the result and the stewards revealed they were reviewing 1,200 reports of track limits breaches at Turn 10.

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The result, which was given hours after the chequered flag, saw 12 penalties handed out with Lando Norris learning he had moved up a spot in a different country.

When asked by PlanetF1.com, Norris revealed he had already touched down back in the UK when he learnt he was now in P4.

“I think Fernando [Alonso] straightaway texted me ‘busted’,” Norris said during the launch of McLaren’s chrome livery. “And then he told me to read what was happening and who we thought was going to get penalties and so on.

“So I actually found out as soon as I landed back in the UK, which is a nice thing. The easiest position gain of my life.”