Now 18 years into his career and hoping to see it out with a flourish, it will not have gone unnoticed by Lewis Hamilton that while McLaren – with whom he started in Formula One all those years ago – are enjoying a breathless, heady run of form, his opening with Ferrari has been an altogether more frustrating affair. The teams’ fates in the Chinese Grand Prix could not have been in greater contrast and it is doubtful that it would give Hamilton occasion for so much as a wry smile.
In a processional race at Shanghai, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri won with a commanding drive from pole and with his teammate Lando Norris behind him they secured McLaren’s 50th one-two finish and the team’s first of the season. On this form, it will not be the last.
Ferrari, meanwhile, pulled the chocks away and let the scarlet rollercoaster rip. From Hamilton’s superb pole and victory in the sprint race on Saturday, the dizzying highs and expectations fell to a dismal low in less than 24 hours. In the race, their car was steadfastly off the pace, fourth fastest behind the McLarens, the Mercedes of George Russell, who was third, and the Red Bull of Max Verstappen in fourth.
It was a troubling enough prospect, given the team seem puzzled as to why their performance is coming and going with insouciant disregard for their feelings. At least they crossed the finish line, albeit in fifth and sixth for Charles Leclerc and Hamilton respectively. As for adding to their points tallies, unfortunately not.
Three hours after the flag fell, both Leclerc and Hamilton had been summarily disqualified for breaking technical regulations. No grey area, no appeal, just a slam dunk, got it wrong.
After the usual checks on the cars in parc fermé the skid blocks on the underside of Hamilton’s Ferrari were found to be below the legal thickness by 0.5mm and Leclerc’s car underweight by 1kg. These are tiny margins but they are known, calculated for as part of the preparation. Conforming is a given and forms part of what is considered precision execution. Push the boundaries for performance but stay within them for points.
Ferrari did not manage to achieve either. They cited high tyre wear because Leclerc adopted a one‑stop rather than a two-stop strategy, causing the car to be underweight, a variable that might be excused but that equally should have been factored in. In Hamilton’s case, the skid blocks that are part of the plank beneath the car are required to be a specific depth after the race to ensure it does not run below the minimum ride height and gain an advantage.
This was a pre-race calculation. In this case a pre-race miscalculation, or “misjudged consumption” as the Scuderia had it, with “no intent” of gaining an advantage.
There was certainly no advantage on show for Hamilton, who ploughed round in an uncompetitive car all afternoon and also ceded his place on track to Leclerc, who was quicker despite a damaged front wing. This was insult to injury even before the FIA waded in to further spoil the Scuderia’s doleful day as Ferrari concluded their mea culpa by admitting they would learn from the mistake.
Cold comfort for Hamilton, even though he is no stranger to a team pushing the envelope in this regard, having been disqualified for a similar infringement at the US GP in 2023 for Mercedes. Notably it tends to occur when teams are chasing performance, looking for every possible edge, while those enjoying a quick car can afford to ensure a greater margin of error.
Enter with something of a swagger then, Hamilton’s old outfit, McLaren, who were once more in complete control. Piastri was flawless for his third race win, with Norris completing the job, if offering what little drama there was when he suffered a brake problem late in the race that he just about managed to contain in claiming second.
What was striking, however, was how anonymous McLaren’s opposition appeared. Once Norris had claimed second place from Russell through turn one off the start, he and Piastri were untroubled.
In both opening races now – despite the variance in tracks, weather and tyre demands – McLaren have coped with conspicuous ease. Serene and commanding in front, it was impossible not to sense that they had far more in the locker were it needed. It was noticeable that it was not. Verstappen, the four-time defending world champion, was never even in the game and he knew it.
Once more, as it had been in Australia, the McLaren was rock-solid on its tyres, while at Ferrari even a new set of rubber had not improved Hamilton’s fortunes and the team principal, Fred Vasseur, admitted they were at a loss to explain why.
“It’s difficult to understand and to read,” Vasseur said. “We have to do a better job, to understand. We all have the same tyres. As soon as they are not in the right window it is much more difficult.”
McLaren have found that operating window and it is wide open and welcoming. Norris and Piastri are seizing their opportunity, the British driver leading the championship by eight points from Verstappen, with Piastri 10 behind.
As things stand Hamilton, who claimed McLaren’s last drivers’ title in 2008, may be naught but an observer as his old team look on course to finally return another, while Ferrari, on a similar winless streak since Kimi Räikkönen’s championship win in 2007, have no little work to do.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was also disqualified post-race for an underweight car, having originally crossed the line in 11th.
After the penalties were imposed, Esteban Ocon was in fifth for Haas and 18-year-old Kimi Antonelli in sixth for Mercedes. Alex Albon was in seventh for Williams and his teammate Carlos Sainz in 10th, while Britain’s rookie Ollie Bearman delivered a superb drive with some decisive overtaking and clever racecraft to take eighth place for Haas. Lance Stroll came home ninth for Aston Martin.
