Charles Leclerc was the first of the two teammates to have his result removed from the record books after initially finishing fifth in the Chinese Grand Prix. His Ferrari was found to be 1kg underweight, even though it had been weighed with a replacement front wing—needed after he damaged the original on the opening lap and completed the race without an endplate. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was also disqualified for violating the same regulation.
Later, Lewis Hamilton was summoned by the stewards following a post-race inspection, which revealed that his car’s rear skid block had worn beyond the minimum thickness allowed. Originally classified sixth behind his teammate, Hamilton was also disqualified.
The disqualifications resulted in Leclerc losing 10 points and Hamilton eight, with Ferrari forfeiting 18 points in total. In a season where competition between Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes is expected to be fierce, this setback could prove costly. Although Ferrari secured 12 points in the Shanghai Sprint, they now trail McLaren by 61 points in the Constructors’ Championship and sit 40 points behind Mercedes.
This is not the first time such disqualifications have occurred in Formula 1. Last season, George Russell lost his Belgian Grand Prix victory after his Mercedes was found to be underweight following a switch to a one-stop strategy. Similarly, both Hamilton and Leclerc were disqualified from the 2023 US Grand Prix due to excessive plank wear on their cars.