Time Deletion in F1 Qualifying: What It Means

A time deletion occurs when the stewards remove a driver’s lap time from the results because it was set in violation of the rules — most commonly for exceeding track limits at designated corners. If a driver cuts a corner or runs all four wheels over the white line at a timing boundary, the lap time they set is declared invalid and deleted. In qualifying, losing a fast time to a deletion can drop a driver significantly on the grid. Drivers are warned via their steering wheel display about limits.

Example: His fastest Q3 time has been deleted — he had all four wheels over the line at turn nine. He’ll now start from ninth.