The Ferrari team principal expects more surprises
At the conclusion of the Chinese GP, Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari SF-25, car number #44, was disqualified because the plank thickness was found to be below the regulatory 9 millimeters. The measurements at the three verification points were 8.6, 8.5, and 8.6 mm. This was not the first time Ferrari had seen one of its cars removed from the race classification for this reason; the same happened in Austin, Texas, in 2023.
That weekend also followed the Sprint format, but unlike in 2023, teams are now allowed to make changes after the Sprint before Qualifying and the Race. In summary, in the United States in 2023, Ferrari had to “gamble” on the ride height after just one Free Practice session, whereas in Shanghai, all teams had access to data from Free Practice, Sprint Qualifying, and the Sprint before finalizing their setup for Qualifying and the Grand Prix.
In an interview with the French sports newspaper L’Équipe, Ferrari team principal Frédéric Vasseur explained that Lewis Hamilton’s disqualification was simply the result of an extreme pursuit of performance in a delicate balance of risk-taking, which can sometimes lead to pushing too far. However, the head of the Maranello-based team emphasized the need to distinguish between disqualifications due to excessive risk-taking and those resulting from knowingly competing outside the regulations.
“We had to be too aggressive,” Fred Vasseur stated. “This shows that we are striving for perfection and that, at times, we push too far. Could this mean there will be more disqualifications? Yes, of course. It is important to distinguish between disqualifications that happen because a team takes risks and those that occur because a team is cheating. The ‘game’ in F1 is to push every limit. You must get as close as possible to the last gram in weight, to the last tenth of a millimeter in plank wear, and to the last millimeter in wing deformation and flexibility. The tighter the competition, the greater the pressure, and the more risks are taken.” – the French manager concluded following the events which took place in the Chinese Grand Prix.
