Ferrari release statement on Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc disqualification

Lewis Hamilton has been disqualified from the Chinese Grand Prix for a technical infringement on his Ferrari car.

Hamilton finished sixth in Sunday’s main grand prix after winning the sprint race in Shanghai earlier in the weekend to secure his first win for Ferrari.

Some hours after the race finished, the FIA confirmed Hamilton was disqualified after his car was found to have a technical infringement.

They said one of the skid blocks on Hamilton’s car was found to be less than the required thickness, breaching Article 3.5.9 of the Formula One Technical Regulations.

In response to having been found guilty of breaking the rules, Ferrari issued a statement which read: ‘Following the FIA post-race scrutineering both our cars were found not to conform to the regulations for different reasons.

‘Car 16 was found to be underweight by 1kg and car 44’s rearward skid was found to be 0.5mm below the limit.

‘Charles was on a one-stop strategy today and this meant his tyre wear was very high, causing the car to be underweight. With regard to Lewis’ skid wear, we misjudged the consumption by a small margin.

‘There was no intention to gain any advantage, we will learn from what happened today and make sure we don’t make the same mistakes again.

‘Clearly it’s not the way we wanted to end our Chinese GP weekend, neither for ourselves nor for our fans whose support for us is unwavering.’

The FIA had earlier clarified their reason for disqualifying the Ferrari duo, saying: ‘The plank assembly of Car 44 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.

‘Competitors are reminded that they have the right to appeal certain decisions of the Stewards, in accordance with Article 15 of the FIA International Sporting Code and Chapter 4 of the FIA Judicial and Disciplinary Rules, within the applicable time limits.

‘Decisions of the Stewards are taken independently of the FIA and are based solely on the relevant regulations, guidelines and evidence presented.’

Hamilton’s Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly were also disqualified after their cars were deemed underweight in post-race checks.

Before his disqualification, Hamilton bemoaned some technical tweaks that were made to his Ferrari that in fact made his car ‘worse’.

‘I am glad we tried something else,’ he said. ‘I was struggling with performance.

‘Basically, we had a pretty decent car in the sprint and then we made some changes as we tried to improve forward and improve the car, and we made it quite a bit worse basically for qualifying and even worse for the race.

‘It wasn’t great. We made some other changes as well as that but not massively, a small amount.

‘All the pieces together made it quite a bit worse. It was bad. I will know not to do that again.’

Oscar Piastri underlined his title credentials with a dominant win at the Chinese Grand Prix, beating McClaren teammate Lando Norris and Great Britain’s George Russell.

The 23-year-old Australian said: ‘It’s been an incredible weekend from start to finish. The car’s been pretty mega the whole time.

‘I’m just so proud of the whole weekend. This is what I feel like I deserved from last week. The team did a mega job with the one-two. I’m very happy.’

Mercedes driver Russell added: ‘Really pleased with the P3. We knew McLaren were a smidge quicker than us, a few crucial points, but well done to those two.

‘I felt it from quite early on that a one-stop could be possible and it turned out it was slightly easier than we probably all anticipated.

‘But, nevertheless, the car has been great this weekend and probably one of my best weekends in Formula 1 in terms of performance, so really pleased with that.’

Hamilton revels in first Ferrari win

Sunday’s events were in stark contrast to what what took place 24 hours earlier when Hamilton secured his first win for Ferrari as he dominated Saturday’s Chinese Grand Prix sprint race.

‘Today was the first time I felt what it means to win in a Ferrari,’ he posted on Instagram. ‘I’m so proud and grateful for that moment.

‘We still have so much work to do. We can’t get ahead of ourselves, we know we have to unlock that pace across a weekend.

‘Make no mistake, the taste of winning has made us all even hungrier. We will keep pushing and stay focused.’

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