Ferrari ‘confirms’ the third row at the finish
Ferrari started from the third row in China with both cars and confirmed those positions at the checkered flag, with the only difference being the switch between Charles Leclerc, who started sixth, and Lewis Hamilton, who started fifth.
To make matters worse, after the investigations announced by the FIA at the end of the race, the first verdicts from the stewards confirmed the disappointing outcome of the Chinese Grand Prix for Ferrari: Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton have been disqualified from the Shanghai race for two different infractions. The Monegasque’s car was found to be underweight, while the seven-time world champion’s car was excluded because the measurement of the skid under the floor showed wear beyond what is allowed by the regulations.
The two drivers risked disaster in Turn 2 with a contact that damaged Charles Leclerc’s front wing, leaving him with 20-30 points less of aerodynamic load. Despite this, the Monegasque was still faster than Lewis Hamilton, to the point where the Ferrari pit wall asked the Briton to let Charles Leclerc pass after the first pit stop.
Charles Leclerc caught up with George Russell in the battle for third, but he couldn’t get past the Mercedes driver and ultimately had to surrender to Max Verstappen’s comeback, finishing fourth. Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur commented on a puzzling Sunday for the Maranello team to Sky: “Leclerc couldn’t do more with the damage he had, and surely we could have done more without that setback. We didn’t get the maximum. Lewis Hamilton’s race is harder to explain, especially after his great pace in yesterday’s Sprint, today he struggled much more. The decision to make two stops with Hamilton? It seemed the safest choice at that point in the race given the degradation he had. No one had used the hard tires all weekend, so we were all guessing. Did we suffer from having to raise the car with a full fuel load? We’re talking about millimeters, and everyone does it.” – the French manager concluded at the end of the Chinese Grand Prix.
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