Ferrari are going home almost empty-handed from the Chinese Grand Prix after Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc suffered shock disqualifications.
Fascinatingly, they have violated separate rules, with Hamilton failing to meet the minimum skid block requirements (9mm) and Leclerc under the weight limit.
It’s the first time since the 2023 United States Grand Prix that Ferrari have been eliminated after failing post-race checks when Leclerc’s skid block failed to meet the requirements again.
The result promoted both Haas drivers inside the top eight and also handed Carlos Sainz his first points as a Williams driver despite a tricky Chinese Grand Prix.
Hamilton is already in charge at Ferrari after telling his team that he would swap with his new teammate when he felt the gap was right during the Shanghai race.
It didn’t mean anything come the end of the weekend though, with the team losing 22 points as a result of their double black flag infringement. It makes Ferrari’s critical discovery even more alarming for Hamilton. They may be slower than 2024 and they’ve lost some valuable points already.
READ MORE: Charles Leclerc’s unheard radio after Lewis Hamilton beat him at Chinese Grand Prix, ‘completely destroyed’
Damon Hill issues three-word verdict over Ferrari’s Chinese Grand Prix disqualification
Ferrari have never had both cars disqualified from a race, and it’s even more exceptional to consider that they have managed it with separate infringements.
Technicalities usually come with slam dunk penalties. You are either under or over a set value, and that makes the rules nice and clear.
There’s no excuse for falling foul of them and 1996 Formula 1 champion Damon Hill agrees, sharing his thoughts on the matter on social media.
“Rules is rules,” he wrote in an Instagram story.
Engineers told Karun Chandhok that Leclerc’s broken front wing helped him during the race, after lap one contact with his teammate saw his left endplate ripped off.
It may have fallen into the path of Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, who struggled for most of the race and believes he picked up floor damage as a result of running over the carbon fibre.
READ MORE: Ferrari video shows what George Russell did as Lewis Hamilton celebrated at Chinese Grand Prix
Why Ferrari are going to be under massive pressure at the Japanese Grand Prix
Two weekends into the season and already Ferrari have gone from being constructors’ championship challengers to level on points with Williams for fourth.
They must find more performance if they want to compete against the likes of McLaren and Mercedes this year.
Red Bull with one driver doing the heavy lifting have managed to score more than double the amount of points they have.
Hamilton proved that their car doesn’t have some speed by taking victory in the sprint this weekend. If it wasn’t for that, leaving without anything to show for their efforts would have been an extra bitter pill to swallow.
Hamilton embarrassed his Ferrari critics during the sprint and offered a sweet reminder of the driver he once was. He’s going to need to sue his experience and lift his team’s spirits after what is going to be a very tough outcome to stomach.
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