Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc have both been disqualified from the Chinese Grand Prix in a disastrous blow for Ferrari in the second race of the 2025 season.
The cars of both drivers failed post-race checks, with Hamilton’s skid block found to be below the minimum thickness, while Leclerc’s car was found to be underweight.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly has also been disqualified from the final race classification for an underweight car.
It means Hamilton and Leclerc’s points for their sixth and fifth place finish respectively – eight and 10 – are wiped from their championship tally.
The disqualification does not impact Hamilton’s sprint race victory on Saturday, for which he secured eight points, but it marks a calamitous end to the Shanghai weekend for Ferrari and their team boss Fred Vasseur.
Both Hamilton and Leclerc were disqualified from the 2023 United States Grand Prix, also for damage to the skid block, and this latest setback further highlights the difficulties Hamilton may face at his new team after 12 years with Mercedes.
On Hamilton’s DSQ, an FIA statement read: “The plank assembly of Car 44 [Hamilton] was measured and found to be 8.6mm (LHS), 8.6mm (car centerline) and 8.5mm (RHS). This is below the minimum thickness of 9mm specified under Article 3.5.9 of the Technical Regulations.
“During the hearing, the team representative confirmed that the measurement is correct and that all required procedures were performed correctly. The team also acknowledged that there were no mitigating circumstances and that it was a genuine error by the team.
“The Stewards determine that Article 3.5.9 of the FIA Formula 1 Technical Regulations has been breached and therefore the standard penalty of a disqualification needs to be applied for such an infringement.”
Hamilton and Leclerc had earlier clashed in the race, with minor contact on lap one causing damage to Leclerc’s front-wing. It is unknown whether this is what has impacted his underweight car.
Hamilton moved over around the swooping turn one, touching Leclerc’s front wing in the process, with the Monegasque forced to drive the whole 56-lap race with a damaged wing.
Yet oddly, Leclerc had superior pace and Hamilton was instructed to move aside for his teammate halfway through the race.
Speaking about the incident, Leclerc said: “Honestly, it’s not Lewis’s fault at all.
“I was around the inside trying to position the car for turn 3, Lewis didn’t know I was there - I didn’t think Lewis would come back to the apex.
“It’s a racing incident, it’s not the first of last time it will happen. Shame it happened between the two red cars.”
Asked why he didn’t change his front wing at the pit-stop, Leclerc replied: “We didn’t want to take the eight seconds to change the wing, didn’t want to take that risk.
“I wanted to maximise the result, I think we did well.”
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