Lewis Hamilton looks concerned on the grid in China
Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari career has got off to an underwhelming start
Former Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo was left “horrified” by the disqualification of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc at the Chinese Grand Prix.
That is the claim of former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, who has described Ferrari’s double blow in Shanghai as the biggest “disgrace” in the team’s history.
Former Ferrari boss ‘horrified’ by Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc double DSQ
Leclerc and Hamilton finished fifth and sixth respectively at last month’s Chinese GP, but were both excluded from the official classification for separate offences.
While Leclerc’s car was found to be underweight, Hamilton was disqualified for excessive wear to the skid blocks of his SF-25.
It marked the second time in the last 18 months that the seven-time World Champion has been excluded for excessive skid-block wear, having suffered the same fate in his penultimate season with Mercedes at the 2023 United States Grand Prix.
Hamilton’s only previous disqualification came at the 2009 Australian Grand Prix, where the then-McLaren driver was punished for misleading the FIA’s stewards.
Ecclestone was reunited with Di Montezemolo at the 80th birthday party of music legend Eric Clapton last weekend.
And he has revealed that the former Ferrari chairman was still smarting from the disqualification of Hamilton and Leclerc a week on from the Chinese GP.
Ecclestone told Swiss-German publication Blick: “I met the former Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo there.
“He was horrified by Ferrari’s two disqualifications in China. Italy had never experienced such a disgrace since the start of the World Championship!”
Leclerc’s car was found to be marginally below the minimum weight limit after the Chinese GP, falling just one kilogram short of the 800kg requirement after fuel was drained from his car.
With Leclerc on a one-stop strategy in Shanghai, it has been speculated that excessive tyre wear could have contributed to his disqualification after Mercedes driver George Russell suffered the same issue at last year’s Belgian Grand Prix at Spa.
Ecclestone believes Leclerc could have easily avoided a disqualification by making more of an effort to collect what is commonly known as ‘pickup’ – discarded pieces of tyre rubber off the racing line – on the cooldown lap to increase the weight of his car.
He added: “There was clearly no control centre to check the cars after qualifying.
“There has been an age-old rule about being underweight for decades.
“Drive through the mud after crossing the finish line and collect as many stones as possible with the tyres in the gravel.”
Ecclestone’s comments come after a report in Italy claimed that Ferrari have made a breakthrough in their understanding of the SF-25 with extensive work in the simulator since the Chinese GP.
It is said that the team have trialled 20 different suspension configurations in the simulator, with Ferrari set to run a different combination of front and rear adjustments in Japan compared to the first two races of the season.
Ferrari are thought to be convinced that there are no basic flaws with their 2025 design concept beyond the SF-25 extreme sensitivity to ride-height changes, with the team hopeful that the true pace of the car will be unlocked at Suzuka this weekend.
It emerged after the season opener in Australia that Ferrari were forced to run in a compromised state in Melbourne after discovering that the car was running too close to the ground in Friday practice.
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