Hamilton, Leclerc and Gasly disqualified from Chinese GP

Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, and Pierre Gasly have been disqualified from the Chinese Grand Prix after post-race scrutineering revealed that the Ferrari and Alpine cars had skid blocks below the minimum required thickness and were underweight.

Crossing the line in P5 and P6, Ferrari originally ended the Shanghai outing with a solid haul of 18 points to its season total, however, in an unfortunate turn of events, both Leclerc and Hamilton have been disqualified from the final standings.

In the case of the seven-time world champion, Hamilton was punished after his rear skid block/plank was found to be under the minimum required thickness due to excessive wear.

This is the same regulation that saw both Hamilton, although racing with Mercedes, and Leclerc disqualified from the United States Grand Prix in 2023.

For Leclerc, the fifth-place finisher battled through the Chinese Grand Prix with a damaged front wing, losing his endplate on the opening lap of the race after making contact with his teammate.

All his hard work went to waste after post-race scrutineering discovered that the #16’s challenger was underweight, weighing in at 799kg after fuel was drained.

“Car 16 was weighed by the FIA Technical Delegate inside and outside scales with both scales showing the same result of 799 kg after the customary draining of fuel and the replacement of a broken front wing,” the official documentation read.

The Monegasque couldn’t be saved by the excuse of a missing piece of front wing, with the team fitting a new wing prior to his turn on the weigh-bridge.

Finishing his second Grand Prix of the season in P11 just shy of a points finish, Gasly’s A525 was also found to be underweight, with the same regulations as Leclerc leading to his disqualification in China.

With the three drivers removed from the final standings, Lance Stroll and Carlos Sainz will inherit the final points-finishing positions of the weekend, with the Spaniard securing his first point as a Williams driver.

Image: Formula 1

READ THE LATEST ISSUE OF AUTO ACTION HERE

Don’t forget the print edition of Auto Action available via subscription here. For more of the latest motorsport news, subscribe to AUTO ACTION magazine.