The fourth placed Ferrari of Nicklas Nielsen, Antonio Fuoco and Miguel Molina has been thrown out of the results of the 2025 Le Mans 24 Hours.

Last night, we reported that the technical scrutineers had reported a technical infringement on the #50 Ferrari 499P - that it did not comply with Section 3.8.7 of the LMH technical regulations concerning the rear wing support. That regulation reads as follows:

With the endplates and rear flap connected (as in track condition), no point of the mainplane or vertical support(s) may deflect more than 15mm vertically when the following combined vertical loads are applied:

- A load of 2400N applied on the surface of the mainplane. The load will be applied in a downward direction uniformly and simultaneously at a point in x representing from 25% to 75% of the chord length of the main plane through six distinct similar pads of 200mm width, and extending from the leading edge of the wing to its trailing edge or the point of overlay of the flap if existing. Their uppermost surface will be horizontal before application of the 400N load and above the upper point of the flap.

- A load of 1000N pulling downwards on each endplate.

The penalty was swift and the disqualification notice was issued during the night. It states that Ferrari #50 has been disqualified for not complying with that deflection test.

The reasoning was:

The following irregularities were identified:

• Missing Components on Rear Wing Support: Four bolts were found to be missing from the rear wing support, as per the car’s homologation form. The Team Manager confirmed and accepted the non-compliance with the homologation specifications.
• Rear Wing Deflection: A rear wing deflection of 52mm was recorded during the post-race test, whereas Article 3.8.7 of the LMH Technical Regulations sets the maximum permissible deflection at 15mm. The Team Manager accepted the result and confirmed that the test procedure carried out by the scrutineers was correct. The Competitor did not dispute the measurement.

Ferrari's defence

The statement said Ferrari argued “that the excessive deflection was linked to the missing bolts, and claimed that no performance gain was achieved”.

Since test day, Ferrari's competitors have been surprised by the top speed of the 499P. This is especially true given that this year, the governing bodies had aimed to level the top speeds, as the Ferrari had surprisingly gained an advantage in the last two editions of the race. At 52mm versus 15mm, it is an understatement to say that the difference is huge.

The Ferraris easily shook off their rivals on the straights, unlike the Cadillacs and Toyotas. According to official documents, the two official Ferrari 499Ps were clocked at 349km/h (217mph), compared to 345.6km/h (214.7mph) for the No. 6 Porsche and 342.3km/h (212.7mph) for the fastest Toyota. This was a huge advantage, given the importance of top speed on the Le Mans 24 Hours circuit.

The officials’ statement said Ferrari had noticed one of the missing bolts but taken no action, and disputed the team’s argument that it had made no straightline speed difference:

It was further explained that during the last pitstop at 15:23, a mechanic noticed the absence of only one bolt on the rear wing support, but no corrective action was taken before the end of the race. The Competitor explained this decision was made after reviewing the car telemetry, which allegedly showed no change to the car’s speed.

The Stewards noted that Car 50 achieved its highest top speed on lap 380 out of 387.

And it suggested that the situation presented a safety risk as well as offering a performance advantage:

It is well-established jurisprudence in motorsport that non-compliance with technical regulations leads to disqualification, unless the Competitor can prove that exceptional circumstances justify otherwise, which was not claimed in this case. Moreover, the scrutineers, who are the competent authority on safety matters, considered the rear wing assembly non-compliance to present a potential safety risk. In particular, the irregular and incomplete assembly of the rear wing support presents a risk of structural failure under high-speed stress or fatigue, which cannot be overlooked.

It doesn’t happen all that often, but we can’t help but feel that Porsche is about to make a monumental mistake. It has just announced that its factory team Porsche Penske Motorsport will leave the FIA World Endurance Championship at the end of the current season.

Yep, that means no factory-backed Porsche 963 hypercars at Le Mans next year. Just when things were getting interesting. Boooo. And perhaps the worst part is that Porsche is leaving WEC to focus on its involvement in Formula E. We’re not making this up.

“We very much regret that, due to the current circumstances, we will not be continuing our involvement in the WEC after this season,” said Dr Michael Steiner, Member of the Executive Board for Development at Porsche AG.

We presume those circumstances refer to the wider business (with Porsche also announcing that sales this year are six per cent down compared to the first nine months of last year) rather than just the fact that Ferrari has won Le Mans three times in a row with its 499P hypercar. When Porsche does endurance racing it usually wins. The 963’s best Le Mans result was a second-place finish earlier this year.

“In Formula E, Porsche is gaining valuable insights for its electric production sports cars,” reads the statement trying to justify this decision. “The fourth generation of Formula E cars will be introduced for season 13 (2026/27) and will bring further development freedom. This will enable Porsche to achieve an even steeper learning curve for its all-electric production vehicles.”

Still, there’s at least some good news for US-based endurance racing fans, because Porsche and Penske will continue running 963s in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. That’s been selected over WEC because North America remains Porsche's largest market.

Max Verstappen, Daniel Juncadella, and Jules Gounon were stripped of victory in NLS2 at the Nurburgring Nordschleife due to a tyre infringement, and Motorsport.com has uncovered what exactly went wrong.

The #3 Winward Mercedes AMG GT3 was disqualified from the 58th ADAC Barbarossapreis due to the use of an additional set of tyres. It is now understood that the error occurred during qualifying when the team was evaluating different compounds of tyres.

With air temperatures at a chilly five degrees Celsius on Saturday morning, Winward decided to test Michelin’s soft compound. This move was still within the team’s original plan.

Four sets of mediums were reserved for the race (one for each stint), one fresh set of mediums was for Verstappen’s final qualifying attack, and one set for the early stages of practice.

But when Juncadella reported the first set of softs felt "off”, Winward decided to send Gounon out on a second set of the same compound. This set wasn’t in the original schedule, but this option was available to the team.

Winward wanted to be 100% sure the lack of performance by the soft tyre wasn't just down to a bad set or parameters outside the operating window. Furthermore, this also ensured that Gounon was safe by avoiding the worn set of tyres.

In between, Verstappen did a "short" GP-track-only lap to practice driver swaps, which Verstappen isn’t used to, and to wait out a Code 60. This didn't impact the tyre count.

Gounon’s subsequent two qualifying laps on the fresh softs confirmed what Juncadella had experienced: that the compound was too soft for the track that was already warmed by the rising sun. Still, Verstappen got his assigned set of mediums for the closing stages of qualifying.

So, by the end of qualifying, Winward Racing had already used three sets of tyres. The team could have stayed within the six-set limit by reusing Verstappen’s qualifying mediums for his final race stint or a shorter opening stint.

Instead, the team stuck to the original plan and used the four brand-new sets of mediums as originally planned. Verstappen made the most of it, dropping seven sub-eight-minute laps during his 13 laps.

So there was no performance advantage in the race as every SP9 Pro team uses four sets for a standard four-hour race. Winward simply paid a heavy price for a morning test session.

The only gain was data-wise: Winward learned for sure that the Michelin Soft isn't the way to go once the sun is up.

It’s an expensive lesson, but one that wouldn’t have made half as much noise if the four-time F1 world champion hadn't been behind the wheel. Had the mistake occurred at the season opener, it likely would have flown under the radar — but NLS1 was cancelled due to winter weather.