SHANGHAI – The Formula 1 season is still in its early stages, but Ferrari is already facing significant point deficits. Despite aiming for the constructors` championship last year and falling short by only 15 points, they now trail McLaren by 61 points in the current standings. Drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc are also lagging behind championship leader Lando Norris by 35 and 36 points, respectively.
These gaps would have been less dramatic if both Ferrari cars hadn`t been disqualified from the Chinese Grand Prix due to separate technical violations. Leclerc`s car was found to be underweight by 1 kilogram, while Hamilton`s car was penalized for excessive wear on the plank, resulting from running the car too close to the track surface.
Ferrari stated that they had “no intention to gain any advantage” and that the discrepancies would have provided minimal to no performance benefit. However, in a sport where success is measured in fractions of a second, there is no tolerance for violating regulations.
Reasons for Hamilton`s Disqualification
The plank, a resin strip attached to the car`s underside, is used by the FIA to monitor ride height and prevent teams from adopting potentially risky setups. Lower car setups can enhance performance, but they also increase plank wear from track contact.
Regulations stipulate that a plank must be at least 9mm thick at all measurement points. If it falls below this, the car is deemed illegal and disqualified.
In Hamilton`s case, measurements at three points revealed wear exceeding the limit by 0.4mm on the left and 0.5mm in the center and right. For reference, a standard quarter coin is approximately 1.75mm thick.
The last similar disqualifications for plank wear occurred at the 2023 U.S. Grand Prix, involving Hamilton (then with Mercedes) and Leclerc.
In that instance, the bumpy Austin track and sprint race format (which limited setup changes after Friday qualifying in 2023) were contributing factors. However, Shanghai`s smooth, recently resurfaced track and current rules allowing setup adjustments between sprint and grand prix races negate similar excuses this time.
Ferrari admitted “misjudging the plank consumption by a small margin.” Stewards confirmed the team acknowledged no mitigating circumstances and attributed it to “a genuine error.”
Reasons for Leclerc`s Disqualification
Car weight regulations are equally strict. The minimum F1 car weight, including the driver but excluding fuel, is 800 kilograms and must be maintained throughout competition. This minimum increased by 2kg this year to accommodate drivers weighing 82kg instead of 80kg, but the post-race weigh-in remains strict.
Following the race, all finishers were weighed with remaining fuel. Leclerc`s Ferrari and Pierre Gasly`s Alpine registered a suspiciously low 800kg. After fuel drainage, both remained under the limit, leading to disqualifications.
Leclerc`s car sustained front wing damage from a lap one collision with Hamilton. Even after replacing the damaged wing with an identical one for re-weighing, car No. 16 was still 1kg underweight. Gasly`s car was also 1kg under.
Both cars employed a one-stop strategy, unlike the anticipated two-stop approach. Extended tire stints resulted in greater tire wear than expected, causing significant rubber loss. A new set of F1 tires (without rims) weighs 42kg but can lose up to 3kg due to wear during a long stint.
Ferrari explained that Leclerc’s one-stop strategy led to “very high tire wear, causing the car to be underweight.”
In contrast, Hamilton used a two-stop strategy, likely retaining more tire rubber than Leclerc. However, nine other cars, including Gasly`s teammate Jack Doohan, successfully used one-stop strategies without weight issues.
A recent precedent is George Russell`s Mercedes being disqualified from the Belgian Grand Prix victory last year for being underweight.
Ferrari lost 18 points due to these disqualifications at the Chinese Grand Prix, which would have more than doubled their current 17-point total. This setback is painful for Ferrari, and if the 2024 season`s competition with McLaren continues similarly, it could become even more challenging by the season`s end.
