Ferrari told they made one ‘good call’ that showed their ‘trust’ in Charles Leclerc at the Chinese Grand Prix

It has been a difficult start to the 2025 F1 season for Ferrari and Charles Leclerc. The Monagasque driver has only managed eight points from the first two races.

Leclerc looked to have the upper hand over teammate Lewis Hamilton in the season opener in Melbourne. He got the jump on the Brit at the second restart as they finished eighth and 10th after a gamble on dry tyres in wet conditions did not pay off.

Things shifted at the Chinese Grand Prix when Hamilton converted pole to victory in the Sprint while Leclec fell from fourth to fifth. The 27-year-old was again outqualified by his teammate for the race, but Ferrari could only lock out the third row.

The Maranello could not match the pace of McLaren on Sunday as they came home fifth and sixth. Hamilton let Leclerc pass after struggling to find pace.

Ferrari looked to have scored 18 points – a drastic improvement from Melbourne. However, Leclerc and Hamilton were both disqualified after the race – the former for being underweight by 1kg and the latter for his rearward skid being 0.5mm under the limit.

This leaves Ferrari level on points with Williams in the constructors’ championship, 61 points behind table toppers McLaren. Despite the double disqualification – the first time that happened in Ferrari’s history – the team did make one ‘good call’ in Shanghai, according to Peter Windsor.

Peter Windsor thinks Ferrari made a ‘good call’ trusting Charles Leclerc to stay out with his damaged front wing in Shanghai

Leclerc’s race looked to have got off to a torrid start after he sustained front wing damage on turn one. He collided with Hamilton’s rear right tyre, taking a piece off the left side of his wing.

Despite the damage, Ferrari engineers found Leclerc was faster. The team opted not to change the wing in the pits as he displayed pace quicker than teammate Hamilton.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Peter Windsor felt Ferrari made a ‘good call’ by leaving the front wing as it was. It showed the team trusted Leclerc’s judgment on track.

“But with Charles, I was quite impressed with how he put his head down, having had a bad Friday and not a brilliant Saturday and he just did a great job in the race.

“And wasn’t that amazing to see when he lost that front wing end plate, that not only did he adapt to the car but actually he was as quick, if not quicker than he would have been had it been on the car.

“Probably because it killed a bit of understeer or oversteer or whatever you want to get, [it] probably got a balance right for Charles that he never had when he had a proper front wing.

“And good call by Ferrari then to leave it on and to trust Charles.”

READ MORE: Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

Ferrari left with even more questions than answers after the Chinese Grand Prix

Ferrari would have hoped for a strong start to 2025. They missed out on the constructors’ title to McLaren by 14 points last season – they want to grab their first since 2008 this year.

However, the Maranello outfit are already 61 points behind after two races. Melbourne and Shanghai presented two different issues for Ferrari.

The team blatantly struggled with communication in the season opener, with Hamilton still getting used to working with new race engineer Riccardo Adami. The tricky weather conditions presented a tough challenge for Ferrari to get the strategy right, which they ultimately did not.

In Shanghai, it was more of a performance issue. Despite Hamilton winning the Sprint, Ferrari were nowhere near the likes of McLaren, Mercedes and even Max Verstappen in the Red Bull during the Grand Prix.

Ferrari’s double DSQ showed their ‘performance anxiety’ after pre-season testing showed their 2025 challenger was more complex than previously thought. The opening two races have proved that issue, leaving the team with more question heading into Japan.