For Ferrari, when it rains, it pours: the FIA announced this morning in Suzuka that the two Ferrari cars had been randomly selected after the Chinese GP to undergo the most in-depth technical checks that Jo Bauer’s team conducts after every race, picking two cars from the top ten finishers.
With Charles Leclerc, who finished fifth, and Lewis Hamilton, sixth, the FIA ordered that the two Ferraris (#16 and #44) be checked to ensure they complied with the rules governing pit stops and related control systems, as defined in Technical Directive TD022. Given the way the Chinese weekend ended, it might have seemed like an extra burden on the Maranello team, which had already suffered the disqualification of the two cars, but the International Federation follows procedures that had been decided earlier.
A statement posted on the Suzuka notice board and the FIA’s website confirmed that both SF-25s were fully compliant with the F1 2025 Technical Regulations. And of course, this was to be expected, since the two cars had been removed from the Chinese classification in the meantime.
As is now well known, Ferrari endured the humiliation of both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc’s disqualifications for different reasons: the Monegasque’s SF-25 was found to be 1 kg underweight (799 kg instead of 800), while the seven-time world champion’s car had worn-out skid plates at all three verification points (8.6 mm at the front, 8.5 mm in the center, and 8.6 mm at the rear), exceeding the allowed wear by 1 mm on the 10 mm thick wooden table.
It would have been shocking if there had been anything unusual in the more in-depth checks as well: it must be reiterated that Ferrari made serious misjudgments in the assessment of the cars (something that has never happened in the history of the team), but they did not attempt to cheat, maintaining good faith.
