Featured Image Credit: Kym Illman/Getty Images
Topics: Formula 1, Sport, Cars, Lewis Hamilton
Joe Harker
Topics: Formula 1, Sport, Cars, Lewis Hamilton
Ferrari has released a statement following a disastrous Chinese Grand Prix where both of its drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, were disqualified after the race was over.
Leclerc had finished fifth and was disqualified for his car being underweight, while Hamilton finished sixth and was disqualified for part of his car being too small.
With Hamilton and Leclerc disqualified the race results were adjusted and the drivers below them in the standings moved up to collect their points.
Ferrari also missed out on a total of 18 points in the Constructors' Championship, a disappointing blow so early into the new Formula 1 season.
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Now the team has released a statement on the reasons why both drivers were disqualified.
Ferrari said: “Following the FIA post-race scrutineering both our cars were found not to conform to the regulations for different reasons.
“Car 16 was found to be underweight by 1 kg and car 44’s rearward skid wear was found to be 0.5mm below the limit.
“Charles was on a one-stop strategy today and this meant his tyre wear was very high, causing the car to be underweight.
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“With regard 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.
“Clearly it’s not the way we wanted to end our Chinese GP weekend, neither for ourselves, nor for our fans whose support for us is unwavering.”
It's been a disappointing start for the Ferrari drivers this season, as Leclerc finished eighth in Australia last week while Hamilton only just managed to score points as he finished P10.
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Then again, sandwiched between them during the last race was Oscar Piastri who went on to win the Chinese Grand Prix so perhaps from early teething problems can come a much better performance further down the line.
Hamilton's first season with Ferrari is not going how he planned thus far, having had frustrating moments during both races and secured a promise from his team to get better at communicating with him.
The new top 10 standings for the Chinese Grand Prix is as follows: