Overview
- GetSpeed’s No. 17 Mercedes lost all Q3 lap times after officials concluded mechanics worked on the right‑rear brake without permission, which removes the crew from Friday’s expanded Superpole and promotes AF Corse’s No. 51 Ferrari to provisional top seed.
- The penalty follows Thursday qualifying where the race grid for the new 32‑car Superpole was set by the average of each car’s drivers across four split sessions designed to cut class traffic.
- Ferrari showed early pace in daytime running with Alessio Rovera and team entries topping FP1 and FP2, while Garage 59’s McLarens led the night practice sessions and remain competitive indicators for race performance.
- Stewards also issued several technical and procedural penalties on Thursday, including engine changes that force cars from Lionspeed GP, Pure Rxcing and a GetSpeed Dubai entry to start from the pit lane and multiple cars to take grid drops for pit‑lane release infringements.
- While starting position is less decisive in a 24‑hour race, the exclusion raises early‑race traffic risk for the affected Mercedes and carries championship consequences for drivers such as Maxime Martin, so Superpole and the opening hours of the race will be key to how teams recover.