Charles Leclerc’s SF25 wing damage: a setback in corners, an advantage on the straights | F1 China GP. Despite front wing damage, Charles Leclerc gained a top-speed advantage.

Charles Leclerc made contact with his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, at Turn 2 of the Chinese Grand Prix.

As a result, his Ferrari number 16 suffered significant front wing damage, which, according to the driver, cost the team a chance to fight for a “realistic” victory.

Let’s analyze all the available data to determine whether first place was truly within Ferrari’s reach.

The consequences (not all negative) of the front wing damage

Looking at the graph below, we immediately notice that Charles Leclerc struggled more than Lewis Hamilton in the corners due to a loss of 30 points of aerodynamic load (yellow circles in the overlay). At the same time, however, the benefit of a flexible wing on the straights is evident, giving him 14 km/h more top speed and nearly three-tenths of a second gained over his teammate (green circle in the overlay).

So, while the broken wing disadvantaged Charles in corners and tire management, it provided a significant advantage on the straights. Additionally, losing front-end downforce reduced oversteer, which has been the SF-25’s main issue early in the season.

As for the decision not to replace the wing at the pit stop, the answer is simple: the data did not indicate a clear disadvantage, either in lap time or any other metric.

Better to lose it on track than off it…
Then, there’s Ferrari’s double disqualification, with Charles Leclerc’s case being due to his car being underweight by 1 kg.

Although this small amount does not make a huge difference in lap time, it is still a performance advantage, which weakens Charles Leclerc’s argument. Finally, it’s important to note that to challenge Oscar Piastri’s McLaren for the win, Charles Leclerc would have needed to recover more than 20 seconds—nearly four-tenths per lap. This is far more than what he lost in corners due to the missing downforce.

With hindsight, it was probably better to lose it on track than to lose it to disqualification…