Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Guthrie have all been disqualified from China’s Grand Prix for failing post-race technical checks.
Leclerc and Gasly are 1kg lower per car, and we found that both Ferrari and Alpine admit that there are no mitigating factors in the infringement.
“During the hearing, the FIA was considered correct for measurements and there was no challenge to ensure that all necessary steps were carried out correctly,” Steward wrote in relation to both teams. “There was no mitigation situation and the team confirmed it was a genuine mistake by them.”
Hamilton’s car was quoted as having excessive wear on the rear skid, and Ferrari likewise admitted there was no reason other than a mistake in the setup that led to problems.
“During the hearing, team representatives confirmed that the measurements were correct and that all necessary steps were carried out correctly,” the Steward repeated. “The team also admitted that it had not eased the situation and was a true error by the team.”
Ferrari, who was disqualified, had a major impact on the final point as Leclerc and Hamilton finished fifth and sixth respectively. Esteban Ocon is now promoted to Haas fifth ahead of Kimi Antonelli and Alex Albon, with Ollie Bearman, Lance Stroll and Carlos Signe closing out the points.
Guthrie would have benefited from a Ferrari infringement, which originally crossed the 11th line, but due to his own disqualification, he left Alpine as the only team to score points this season.