Maverick Vinales and the Tech3 KTM MotoGP team have been stripped of their shock Qatar Grand Prix podium after a post-race investigation into a minimal tyre pressure breach.
Vinales had mounted a surprise challenge for victory during the race and, though he had no answer for Ducati rider Marc Marquez's late-race pace, he preserved the tyres well enough to finish second on the road - a result beyond his and KTM's wildest expectations coming into the day.
But he was announced immediately after the finish as being under investigation over tyre pressures.
MotoGP riders are required since mid-2023 to keep the tyre pressure, front and rear, above a certain threshold (around 1.80 bar) for a certain number of laps during the sprint and the race.
It's a rule that has occasionally led to curious strategies in the last couple of years - most recently in this season's Thailand Grand Prix, where Marc Marquez deliberately surrendered the lead in a bid to ride in his brother Alex's slipstream and artificially raise the front pressure.
Riders and their crew chiefs set their starting tyre pressures with an approximation in their minds of how their race will go - because you tend to need to start with a lower front pressure if you expect to be in the pack. Vinales and his Tech3 KTM team will not have expected to lead the race, especially for as long as he did.
Vinales said during the post-race press conference that he had no time to even look at his dash during the race to see if there were any tyre pressure warnings. And he said that, if a penalty should come in, it would not bother him too much as he is more encouraged by the pure performance in the race.
The penalty - 16 seconds applied at the flag - drops him from second to 14th.
It means Pecco Bagnaia gets an extra four points relative to title rival Marquez, whose lead over his brother Alex is reduced to 17.
It also means Ducati's 100% podium record so far in 2025 is maintained - as Franco Morbidelli (VR46) inherits the final spot on the rostrum.
