For the first time in the long history of Formula 1, both Ferrari cars have been disqualified from a race result. After the Chinese Grand Prix, both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were disqualified. While the Monegasque’s car was found to be too light, the Brit’s skid block was excessively worn. Ferrari laments a bit of bad luck, but mostly a costly miscalculation.
“Following a post-race inspection by the FIA, both cars were found to be non-compliant with the regulations for different reasons,” the Ferrari team wrote in an official press release. “Charles Leclerc’s car was found to be one kilogram too light, while the skid block under Lewis Hamilton’s car was worn down by just 0.5 millimeters too much. Leclerc used a one-stop strategy today, which caused his tires to wear down to such an extent that the car was under the minimum weight.
A Costly Miscalculation
“As for Hamilton’s wear, we misjudged the consumption,” the statement read. “It was not Ferrari’s intention to gain any advantage over the competition. We will learn from what happened today to ensure that we do not make the same mistakes in the future. This is clearly not the way we wanted to end the Chinese Grand Prix, neither for ourselves nor for our fans, who have supported us unconditionally this weekend.”
Due to the double disqualification, Ferrari has slipped to fifth place in the constructors’ championship, behind the Williams team. The Scuderia is a whopping sixty-one points behind leader McLaren. The drivers also suffer from the carnage in Shanghai. Lewis Hamilton currently ranks ninth in the drivers’ standings, followed by Charles Leclerc, who occupies the tenth spot.
