Ferrari stars Hamilton and Leclerc disqualified in Piatri’s victory

Formula 1 record world champion Lewis Hamilton and his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc were subsequently disqualified at the China Grand Prix. As the racing commissioners announced in Shanghai, the 40-year-old Brit loses his sixth place on Sunday because of a base plate that is too worn out on his car. Hamilton celebrated his first victory for the traditional Italian team in Sprint in China on Saturday. After that there had been no complaints.

“We did not intend to get an advantage,” said Ferrari in a team statement at X and added: “We will learn from what happened today and make sure that these mistakes do not happen again. Of course we did not want to end the weekend of the Grand Prix in China.”

The 27 -year -old Monegasse Leclerc is not allowed to keep its fifth place from the Grand Prix, since his car is below the necessary minimum weight of 800 kilograms. The Ferrari weighed only 799 kilograms at the crucial moment after the second World Cup season.

The Frenchman Pierre Gasly from Alpine was also punished for the same violation. Gasly loses eleventh place because his car had only weighed 799 kilograms. The pilots placed behind them are now moving forward in the racing rating.

The race in China confirmed a trend: after years of dominance, the four-time Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen threatens to lose the connection early in the season. In the approximate McLaren double success of Oscar Piatri in front of Lando Norris, the Dutch did not get out of fourth place in the weakening Red Bull. In the fight for the podium places, Verstappen had no chance with a big gap and at the end of Piatri was only limited damage.

“We are concerned, but it’s not that we would throw the shotgun in the grain,” said Red Bull’s motorsport consultant Helmut Marko at Sky. After a moderate start, Verstappen was able to increase against the end of the race thanks to his driver’s skill. “In the end we are as quickly as the top, but it was already too late,” said Marko.

Norris defended the leadership in the World Cup ranking in Shanghai a week after his triumph in Australia, he is now eight points in front of Verstappen. Behind Norris, George Russell in Mercedes as third again on the podium. The Australian Piatri achieved the third Grand Prix victory of his career and made the optimal start to the season for McLaren in the second run.

Nico Hülkenberg, the only German driver in the field, steered his clean in 18th place. At the start a week ago, the 37-year-old from the Rhineland surprised with seventh place and took six World Cup points in the first assignment after his change from the US team Haas.