Ferraris, Gasly face potential disqualification from Chinese GP

Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Gasly are all at risk of being disqualified from the Chinese Grand Prix after issues with their cars were found in post-race scrutineering.

Leclerc had impressively finished fifth after damaging his front wing on the opening lap when making contact with teammate Hamilton, and executing a one-stop race that led to him finishing ahead of Hamilton who made a second stop. While the damage naturally makes the car lighter, teams are allowed to replace obviously damaged parts, and after weighing the Ferrari with the missing endplate, it was also weighed with a spare front wing fitted. Once fuel was drained, it was underweight on both occasions.

“After the race, car number 16 was weighed and its weight was 800.0 kg, which is the minimum weight required by TR Article 4.1,” FIA technical Jo Bauer wrote. “As the front wing was damaged (the missing FW endplate was recovered and weighed with the car), the car was re-weighed with an official spare front wing assembly of car 16 and its weight was 800.5 kg.

“After this, fuel was drained out of the car and 2.0 liters of fuel were removed. The car was drained according to the draining procedure submitted by the team in their legality document. The car was weighed again on the FIA scales (with the official spare front wing assembly of car 16) and the weight was 799.0 kg. The calibration of the scales was confirmed and witnessed by the competitor. For information the spare front wing was 0.2 kg heavier than the damaged one used during the race.

“As this is 1.0 kg below the minimum weight requested in TR Article 4.1, which also has to be respected at all times during the competition, I am referring this matter to the stewards for their consideration.”

Pierre Gasly’s Alpine was also found to be underweight. Sam Bloxham/Getty Images

Leclerc’s car was not alone in being referred to the stewards for being underweight, with the Alpine of Gasly also being weighed at 799.0kg once fuel was removed, with both cars at risk of disqualification for breaching technical regulations.

George Russell was disqualified for a similar issue after winning the Belgian Grand Prix last year, with Mercedes speculating that excessive tire wear could have been at play. Gasly completed the longest stint to the finish of the race with 46 laps on his hard tires as he crossed the line 11th, while Leclerc’s final stint was 41 laps.

Although Hamilton’s car complied with the weight limit, scrutineering showed his rearmost skid thickness to below the minimum limit of 9mm, registering 8.6mm at two points and 8.5mm at another. Both Hamilton and Leclerc were disqualified from the 2023 United States Grand Prix for similar issues.

Should all three drivers be excluded from the results, Lance Stroll and Carlos Sainz stand to be promoted into the points from 12th and 13th respectively, while Esteban Ocon, Kimi Antonelli, Alex Albon and Oliver Bearman would also all benefit.