The Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying results have been changed after Pierre Gasly was disqualified for a fuel flow violation in his Alpine machine. The Frenchman’s car was flagged during routine post-session inspections and sent to the stewards.

Gasly had qualified in P13, sandwiched in between VCARB’s Yuki Tsunoda and Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg, but the 28-year-old will now be sent to the back of the grid after his Alpine power unit was deemed to have exceeded the maximum fuel flow rate.

Addressing the disqualification, an FIA statement read: "The Technical Delegate reported that Car 10 exceeded the permitted 100Kg/h fuel mass flow on the final timed lap of Q2.

"The team representatives explained that they had an unexpected short duration technical fault that raised the fuel mass flow greater than expected in a transient fashion. The cause was agreed by the FIA technical staff. That the fuel mass flow was greater than the limit at that moment was not disputed by the competitor."

The FIA went on to add: "The usual penalty for a breach of the technical regulations is disqualification and the Stewards note that Article 1.3.3 of the International Sporting Code states “If an Automobile is found not to comply with the applicable technical regulations, it shall be no defence to claim that no performance advantage was obtained.

“In addition to the Code this has long been the position of the International Court of Appeal. Thus, the Stewards apply the usual penalty and disqualify the car and driver from the classification of qualifying."

Gasly’s disqualification has heaped more frustration onto what has been a testing weekend for Alpine. Esteban Ocon suffered a power unit issue of his own during FP3 on Saturday, bringing out the red flag, and then the Haas-bound driver found the wall during his final Q1 run later in the day.

One of the key drivers who will benefit from the disqualification is Lando Norris. The Brit was caught out by a yellow flag in sector three on his last Q1 lap, condemning him to a P17 finish. He now gains an extra position on the grid, moving up to 16th for the Azerbaijan GP on Sunday.

Gasly isn’t the only driver with a handicap applied for Sunday’s grid either. Zhou Guanyu finished 19th on Saturday and would have been lifted to P18 with the Alpine driver’s disqualification, but took two new engine components and was sent to the back of the grid.

While some of the more experienced heads on the grid had Saturdays to forget, the grid’s newest names shone. Franco Colapinto outqualified team-mate Alex Albon to secure a P9 starting grid slot, while Oliver Bearman will start ahead of Nico Hulkenberg in 11th.