Ferrari's drama began around five-thirty in the afternoon in Shanghai, exactly two hours after the checkered flag fell. Jo Bauer, FIA technical delegate, issued a statement detailing that Charles Leclerc's SF-25 weighed one kilogram less than the minimum weight established: 799 instead of 800. Just half an hour later, the stewards called Lewis Hamilton to testify for an irregularity in the wooden plank that forms the car's floor. The Maranello team, which a few weeks ago considered itself ready to challenge for the Drivers' and Constructors' Championships, committed two different irregularities in the same race. Two errors resulting in disqualifications. An unprecedented event in Ferrari's history because the only similar case, during the 1999 Malaysian GP, was successfully resolved after a controversial appeal to the FIA.
Initially, it was thought that Leclerc's case was due to damage to the front wing suffered after a collision with Hamilton on the first lap. However, Bauer ordered a spare wing to be installed. And that measurement would result in an even lower weight. Therefore, the FIA did not want to consider any mitigating factors, attributing what happened to a "genuine mistake" by the Scuderia. This case brought to mind what happened during the 2024 Belgian GP when George Russell lost the victory he had achieved on track because his Mercedes weighed 796.5 kg instead of the required 798.
Regarding Hamilton's situation, according to the FIA, his car's floor showed wear at three different points, exceeding the established tolerance of one millimeter. Bauer argued that this anomaly had been detected throughout the entire plank, which could only be attributed to a setup configured before the race.
It is worth noting that after Sir Lewis's victory in the Saturday sprint race, Ferrari decided to change the car's ride height. This change resulted in a loss of aerodynamic efficiency, as it is estimated that a mere millimeter translates to two tenths per lap. Although the engineers' intention should not be interpreted as mere fraud, they indeed made a terrible mistake that would ruin the British driver's chances. The SF-25 was running so low that contact with the track wore down the wooden plank on its floor.
"We miscalculated by a small margin. There was no intention to gain any advantage. We will learn from what happened and make sure not to repeat the same mistakes," explained the team led by Fred Vasseur, accepting the punishment and waiving any appeal. It is noteworthy that in the 2023 US GP, both Leclerc and Hamilton, the latter driving for Mercedes, were disqualified for an identical issue with the floor plank.
As for Leclerc, Ferrari tried to justify the strategy of a single pit stop followed by the Monegasque. "The tire wear was very high, causing the car to be underweight," they reasoned through a brief statement.
Thus, the 18 points from Shanghai evaporated. Goodbye to the fifth and sixth places at the finish line, which were not exactly a success for the Cavallino Rampante. This double zero leaves the team in fifth place in the Constructors' Championship, tied with Williams. While the British team has scored the same number of points in two races as they did in the entire previous season (17), Ferrari faces its first crisis of the year. An embarrassment that exposes serious internal shortcomings.
For the first time since the 2009 Spanish GP, no Maranello driver is in the top 8 of the Championship. In fact, the driver with the most points using a Ferrari engine is Esteban Ocon, at the wheel of a Haas. Following the eliminations of Leclerc and Hamilton, the Frenchman climbed to fifth place, ahead of Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Alex Albon. A dismal end to the weekend for the seven-time champion, who had just secured victory in the sprint race barely 30 hours earlier.
"We Wanted to Improve and Ended Up Worse"
"On Saturday morning, I had a good car. We made some changes to try to improve, but we got worse in qualifying, and it was even worse in the race," revealed the British driver, whose exchange of messages with Riccardo Adami, his race engineer, caused quite a stir once again.
The most controversial episode began to unfold on lap 16, shortly after overtaking Oliver Bearman at turn 14. At that point, Leclerc was only four tenths behind his rear wing. Two laps later, Hamilton radioed: "I think I'm going to let Charles pass because I'm struggling." Almost immediately, Bryan Bozzi informed Leclerc: "We're going to swap positions at turn 14." Adami relayed this to Hamilton, who replied: "I'll do it when I'm closer."
This sequence of messages was not fully broadcast on the FOM (Formula One Management) international feed, leading to some confusion. In fact, it could be interpreted that Hamilton had disobeyed his team's orders. "This is an FOM joke. They created this spectacle to generate chaos because they only broadcast the second part of the question," said Vasseur, anticipating a conversation with the TV signal's responsible parties.
Shortly after the race started, Ferrari's main team had already regretted an incident between their cars. It happened when Leclerc took the inside line at turn 1, and Hamilton, on the outside, seemed unaware, making a sudden move that damaged car 16's front wing. "He didn't know I was there and wasn't expecting me, so it was just an unfortunate accident," commented the Monegasque. "We decided not to change the wing, as that would have cost us another eight seconds in the pit stop and required several overtakes to regain the position," he concluded.