Lewis Hamilton’s second appearance for Ferrari ended with a shock disqualification after he was adjudged to have driven an illegal car in Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix.
Hamilton crossed the line in sixth place – scoring eight points. But three hours after the chequered flag fell in Shanghai, he was expelled from the result after a skid block underneath his Ferrari was found in breach of the regulations by half a millimetre.
On a nightmare day for Ferrari, Charles Leclerc, who finished one place ahead of Hamilton, was also removed from the classification with his machine one kilogram underweight. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, who crossed the line in 11th place, was the third driver disqualified for a similar infringement.
Hamilton, who endured a troubled afternoon in China as he struggled for speed, was summoned to see the stewards at 7:15pm local time. The FIA’s verdict arrived just eight minutes later with Ferrari admitting a “genuine error”.
A statement from the FIA read: “The plank assembly of Car 44 (Lewis Hamilton) was measured and found to be 8.6mm (left-hand-side), 8.6mm (car centreline) 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 skid blocks in the wooden floor have a minimum thickness to ensure a driver cannot gain advantage by their machine running lower to the ground than is allowed.
It marked the second disqualification for Hamilton in 18 months after he was stripped of second place at the US Grand Prix in 2023 for a similar infringement while driving for Mercedes.
Oscar Piastri led home Lando Norris as McLaren sealed a one-two, with Hamilton’s former Mercedes team-mate George Russell completing the podium. World champion Max Verstappen finished fourth.
But Ferrari’s double disqualification promotes Esteban Ocon up to fifth for Haas, with Hamilton’s Mercedes replacement Kimi Antonelli sixth. Alex Albon took seventh for Williams, one place ahead of British teenage rookie Ollie Bearman. Lance Stroll and Carlos Sainz took the remaining points as Gasly too missed out.
Hamilton headed into Sunday’s 56-lap race fuelled with confidence after he converted his sprint pole into victory to land his first triumph in Ferrari colours 24 hours previously. Hamilton used the win to hit back at his “yapping” critics six days after he opened his Ferrari campaign with a 10th-placed finish in Melbourne.
However, despite a strong start in Sunday’s race – as he moved up one place from his grid slot of fifth with a fine move on Verstappen at the opening corner – Hamilton was out of sorts.
He told Ferrari to allow Leclerc to pass him before he was embroiled in several testy exchanges with race engineer, Riccardo Adami, as they attempted to manufacture the move.
“We are swapping cars on Turn 14,” Hamilton was told. The seven-time world champion snapped back: “I will tell you when we can swap.”
Hamilton then took the chequered flag a distant 25 seconds behind Piastri – after attempting a two-stop strategy – before he was slung out of the result.
“I was just struggling with pace so I just wanted to try something but it didn’t work,” said Hamilton.
A Ferrari statement read: “With regards 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.”
