Rene Arnoux slams FIA for Chinese Grand Prix decision that ‘went too far’, it could impact the F1 championship

Rene Arnoux has slammed the FIA for going ‘too far’ with their decisions at the 2025 Chinese Grand Prix, where McLaren driver Oscar Piastri took his first win of the year.

Piastri scored his maiden pole position in Formula 1 at the Shanghai International Circuit last Saturday and converted it into the victory. The Australian fended off fellow front-row starter George Russell of Mercedes to lead into Turn 1 and ran unchallenged thereafter last Sunday.

McLaren would also enjoy a one-two finish after Lando Norris managed a brake issue at the Chinese GP to resist Russell’s late threat. But not every team left Shanghai in a happy mood as Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc plus Pierre Gasly of Alpine were disqualified.

Rene Arnoux hits out at Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton’s Chinese GP disqualifications

FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer explained that Leclerc’s Ferrari and Gasly’s Alpine were both 1kg under the 800kg limit after being drained of fuel. The rearmost underbody skid block on Hamilton’s Ferrari had endured wear down to 8.5-8.6mm when the minimum limit is 9mm.

But Arnoux has told Gazzetta dello Sport that the FIA went ‘too far’ disqualifying the Ferrari and Alpine drivers from the Chinese GP. He especially rules out the Scuderia trying to cheat in Shanghai to help Leclerc and Hamilton, who had finished the race in fifth and sixth place.

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The former Scuderia racer is adamant that the FIA should incorporate some leeway into F1’s regulations for incidents like Ferrari’s double disqualification in China when the margins like Leclerc’s situation are tight. His SF-25 weighed exactly 800kg before the FIA drained its fuel.

Arnoux said: “Ferrari weren’t trying to cheat. I categorically rule out any intention to cheat. If Leclerc’s car had been 10 kilos too light or if Hamilton’s car had been in a blatant violation, OK, we’d have to question that. But this is merely a matter of nuances, a random anomaly.

“I’m aware that the rules can’t be ignored. But if we agree on how complex the rules are, then in my opinion minor violations should only result in a warning – not necessarily an immediate disqualification.

“Only if there was a second violation of the same kind would I resort to more drastic measures. No, these two disqualifications for Ferrari in China went too far for me because that could certainly have an impact on the final world championship standings.”

Ferrari were set to score 18 points in the Chinese GP from Leclerc and Hamilton’s respective P5 and P6 finishes prior to being disqualified. Instead, Haas gained an additional four points, Williams three, Mercedes two and Aston Martin one point through the Scuderia taking zero.

The Maranello natives losing a net 20 points to Mercedes, in particular, could indeed have a big impact on Ferrari’s 2025 Formula 1 constructors’ championship hopes. The Scuderia lost out on the teams’ title to McLaren last year by just 14 points, and Ferrari now only rank fifth.

Ferrari have themselves to blame for Leclerc and Hamilton’s Chinese GP disqualifications

Arnoux’s anger toward the FIA for disqualifying Hamilton and Leclerc from the Chinese GP is unlikely to result in any changes given Ferrari’s nightmare in Shanghai was not the first time a team has seen their driver(s) removed from the final race classification for a similar situation.

It was also not the first time that the Scuderia and Leclerc have been disqualified from an F1 race. Leclerc and Hamilton were disqualified at the 2023 United States Grand Prix as post-race checks found excessive wear to their skid blocks when the latter was a Mercedes driver.

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Hamilton also inherited the win at Spa last year after his then-teammate George Russell was disqualified from the 2024 Belgian GP. His Mercedes was found 1.5kg underweight after, like Leclerc in Shanghai last week, Russell turned an expected two-stop race into a one-stopper.

Ferrari also only have themselves to blame for Leclerc and Hamilton’s disqualifications from the Chinese GP having opted against or failed to sufficiently integrate some leeway into their measurements like most of their rival teams. Just Alpine with Gasly also fell foul in Shanghai.

While Pirelli and most of the teams expected the Chinese GP would be a two-stop race, tyre degradation did not prove to be as poor as expected given the Shanghai track’s new asphalt. But a set of tyres can weigh around eight-10kg less after 40 laps rather than the 20 planned.

It was likely the increased weight lost from running longer on a set of tyres that saw Russell disqualified at Spa and Leclerc disqualified in Shanghai. Leclerc damaging his front wing on Lap 1 of the Chinese GP did not impact his weight as Ferrari could replace it when weighed.