Following Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton’s exclusions in the Chinese Grand Prix, Bernie Collins of Sky Sports F1 examines more closely what happened and the consequences that go.
Leclerc’s car was 1 kg below the 800kg car weight limit and Hamilton’s board under the car was over half a millimeter.
The couple ended the fifth and sixth respectively in the race, but Ferrari came out of the Sunday Grand Prix without any point.
Ferrari’s changes set to contribute to Hamilton’s exclusion?
Hamilton won Saturday’s sprint with brilliant fashion, but Ferrari, like everyone else, still made changes to adapt or improve for Sunday’s race.
Bernie says: “I don’t think it’s uncommon to change the set-up after the sprint, because you know in the sprint that you’ll never run 100 pounds of fuel.
“One of these changes could increase your correct height because you know that you should start with higher fuels.
“What is different between him and Austin two years ago (when Hamilton’s Mercedes was ruled out for the same reason), you are not allowed to change the arrangement between the sprint and the main race, so when you got the press read in the sprint, you could not react to it.
“In the sprint, there was much more management than the main race because they made more rounds that pushed a hard tire, and in the middle they made a lot of sprint management, so it wouldn’t surprise me if the use of wear and fuel went up to the main race.”
Use the Chrome browser for a more affordable video playback program
Hamilton led from start to finish as he claimed his first victory with Ferrari at Sprint in Chinese Grand Prix
Has Hamilton’s two stop strategy impact on boards?
Hamilton was the only driver in the initial Top 10 to run a two -stop race, starting with medium tires and hard -to -feet cracking 13 and harden again in the round 37 in the 56 lap race.
BC says: “The double will lead to the push more in each round.
“The only thing about Lewis is, I don’t know if it had any damage from the Leclerc incident? The FIA ​​says there were no” mitigating conditions “and if Ferrari could prove damage or lack of downgrade, they could do so, but they didn’t.
“As for Leclerc, who made a one-stop, people say that maybe a single one was possible.
“I don’t know where the loss of mass comes from.”
Use the Chrome browser for a more affordable video playback program
Hamilton was disappointed with Ferrari’s performance after the initial completion of the sixth
Ferrari has a fundamental issue of car design?
Interestingly, there were whispers in Paddock after Australia that Ferrari had to increase their car for the era opener to avoid excessive deterioration. While the team has not commented on the alleged issue, Hamilton was ruled out for excessive boards a week later.
Bernie says: “It would be standard for everyone to increase the car in Australia due to bumps and are harmful to the fall and deterioration of the boards.
“In Australia, Ferrari was not so strong, some of them were under the strategy, but the qualifying performance was not so strong, so they may have a car that is very sensitive to driving in terms of airport performance.
“I would be surprised that the sprint in China was not a good indication that it would be illegal to wear the board.
Use the Chrome browser for a more affordable video playback program
Sky Sports’ Karun Chandhok greets the importance of Sprint Hamilton’s victory in China and explains why he cannot be rejected as a candidate for the drivers championship
“If they have what we would call a height of” top “ride, which means that there is a very small optimum driving height that you can have a good aerodynamic platform inside. This is an issue for a car.
“You want to be suitable to run a series of ride heights due to all these tracks. For example, in Austria there are strong curbs so you want to add a little ride height there.
“Maybe the Aero platform is very high.”
Use the Chrome browser for a more affordable video playback program
It was a fascinating start of the Chinese GP with Leclerc losing his left front wing after Ferrari Hamilton’s teammate was cut off!
What will Ferrari do now to ensure that it is legal for Suzuka?
Bernie says: “Basically, it is the job of the mechanical race that the car is legal. Every mechanical race for every car is with them that the car is legal.
“They will try to understand why it is illegal in both cases, with the weight and deterioration of the board. It would be great to know if Leclerc was legal for the board.
Use the Chrome browser for a more affordable video playback program
Highlights from the Chinese Grand Prix of 2025 from the International Circuit of Shanghai
“Groups will know how much cars are going out. They will go through all their procedures to see what it was that got them over the limit and what margin needs to change.
“I don’t think anyone out there creates the car believing that it will be illegal at the board and we hope they will not control.”
Use the Chrome browser for a more affordable video playback program
Sky F1’s Ted Kravitz reflects all the big speech points from the Chinese Grand Prix
What does all this mean to the Hamilton relationship with Ferrari engineers?
Bernie says: “It’s a blow because Ferrari had a wrong strategy in Australia, in China that were blocked, so it should have done better and undoubtedly had the wrong strategy, because Lewis should not have been set for the second time.
“Lewis was really fighting in the car on Sunday and the car was illegal. The changes to the set-up did not react the way he wanted or would not be so slow in the race and were illegal.
Use the Chrome browser for a more affordable video playback program
Listen to radio messages from Hamilton’s first race with Ferrari across the Grand Prix of Australia
“So it’s a blow, if they get through it and find what is wrong, then Lewis can overcome this quite quickly, but it is one of those little things that add to lack of confidence.
“When Sebastian Vettel came to us at Aston Martin, I really wanted to think that we were good at our jobs.
“I really wanted to go” if he calls me to the pit, I’ll do it “because I trust the team. Now we had a strategic thing, a radio and now exclusion, so it makes the driver to be sure.”
Formula 1 is directed to the Suzuka virtual circuit for the Japanese Grand Prix on April 4-6, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with now – no contract, cancel at any time
