F1 China GP: Hamilton & Leclerc disqualified post race

The 2025 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix has seen a dramatic post-race twist after three drivers—including both Ferrari cars—were disqualified on Sunday, flipping the race results and further denting the Scuderia’s faltering season.

Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, who originally crossed the line in fifth and sixth, respectively, were removed from the classification due to technical infringements discovered during post-race scrutineering.

Leclerc’s car was found to be underweight by 1kg, while Hamilton’s suffered excessive plank wear, with the rear skid block falling 0.5mm below the legal limit.

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was also disqualified for a similar weight-related breach, despite finishing outside the points.

The shocking double DSQ marks a first in Ferrari’s 75-year history and came after the team looked to be turning a corner following a lacklustre start to the season.

Ferrari released a statement taking full responsibility for the infractions, attributing Leclerc’s issue to tyre degradation from a one-stop strategy and Hamilton’s to a miscalculation of skid wear.

“There was no intention to gain any advantage,” the team insisted, vowing to learn from the costly errors.

The disqualifications handed a major boost to other drivers, elevating McLaren’s Oscar Piastri to a commanding victory—the third of his career—following a flawless lights-to-flag performance in Shanghai.

Teammate Lando Norris and Mercedes’ George Russell completed the podium, while Esteban Ocon and rookie Kimi Antonelli capitalised on the reshuffle to score valuable points.

Surprisingly top online bookmakers have Ferrari as 2nd favourites at -769.23, followed by Mercedes at +2000.

Bookies clearly believe McLaren has the constructors title in the bag after 2 dominant performances to start the season and is comfortable in the lead, pricing them at $1.13 with BetOnline.

Leclerc also lost what would have been a significant personal milestone, having temporarily overtaken Sebastian Vettel as Ferrari’s all-time leading points scorer. With the DSQ, Vettel retains his record at 1400 points.

After two rounds, Ferrari now sits tied for fourth in the Constructors’ Championship with just 17 points—a far cry from their championship aspirations at the start of the season.

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