Lewis Hamilton disqualified from Chinese Grand Prix after breaking F1 rule by just four millimetres

23 March 2025, 12:27 | Updated: 23 March 2025, 13:33

Lewis Hamilton has been disqualified from sixth place in the Chinese Grand Prix after his Ferrari was adjudged to have broken the rules.

Hamilton, who had scored eight points, was summoned to see the stewards in Shanghai after the rearmost skid on his Ferrari came in between 8.5 and 8.6 millimetres, which is less than the 9mm minimum thickness required.

Three hours after the race Hamilton was thrown out of the result, with Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc also disqualified from fifth place after his car was underweight. Alpine's Pierre Gasly has also been expelled for the same breach.

The stewards said in a statement: "The plank assembly of Car 44 (Hamilton) was measured and found to be 8.6mm (LHS), 8.6mm (car centerline) and 8.5mm (RHS). This is below the minimum thickness of 9mm specified under Article 3.5.9 of the Technical Regulations.

"During the hearing the team representative confirmed that the measurement is correct and that all required procedures were performed correctly. The team also acknowledged that there were no mitigating circumstances and that it was a genuine error by the team.

"The stewards determine that Article 3.5.9 of the FIA Formula 1 Technical Regulations has been breached and therefore the standard penalty of a disqualification needs to be applied for such an infringement."

As Oscar Piastri led home Lando Norris in a McLaren one-two, with Mercedes' George Russell completing the podium, Hamilton had already endured a troubled afternoon prior to the disqualification.

He enjoyed a strong start from fifth to move ahead of Max Verstappen, but he struggled to keep up with the leading trio and soon had Leclerc crawling all over the back of his gearbox.

Leclerc had a damaged front wing after he knocked into Hamilton at the first corner but such was the Briton's lacklustre speed, Hamilton told Ferrari he would allow his team-mate through.

Hamilton's race engineer, Riccardo Adami, came on the radio. "We are swapping cars on Turn 14," Hamilton was told. After several testy exchanges, the seven-time world champion said: "I will tell you when we can swap."

The move came at the start of lap 21, with Leclerc quickly pulling out a two-second lead over Hamilton.

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"This is a shame (because) the pace is there," said Leclerc in apparent annoyance that the order to trade places had not arrived earlier.

Hamilton opened his winning account for Ferrari in Saturday's sprint but was growing frustrated in the main event, changing tyres again on lap 38 as the majority of the field completed a one-stop strategy.

He took the chequered flag 25 seconds behind Piastri but that was not the end of the story.