Ferrari endured its most embarrassing moment in years two weeks ago in China when both its drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, were disqualified in the hours following the race for two different reasons. Naturally, team principal Fred Vasseur was blamed.
It wasn’t the first time a Ferrari car suffered a disqualification on his watch. Leclerc —for the same reason as Hamilton in Shanghai— met with the same fate in Austin two years ago, suggesting that there could be something wrong with Vasseur’s leadership.
You wanna know the last time a Red Bull was disqualified from a Grand Prix?
Australia 2014
You wanna know the last time a McLaren was disqualified from a Grand Prix for a technical reason?
Brazil 2000
— Andy (@AndyGraham22) March 25, 2025
Those who were previously associated with the team have also begun speaking out against the Frenchman. Former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone revealed that he met ex-Ferrari boss Luca Cordero di Montezemolo at a party in London, where the Italian was livid.
“He was shocked by Ferrari’s double disqualification in China,” Ecclestone told Blick.
“Italy had never experienced such an indignity since the start of the Formula 1 World Championship.”
Leclerc had finished the race in Shanghai in P6, with Hamilton one place ahead. However, the Monegasque’s car was found to be a kilo underweight, which, per the rules, warrants disqualification.
Similarly, Hamilton’s skid plank, located underneath the car, exhibited excessive wear—it was 0.5 mm shorter than the limit. When the FIA discovered these discrepancies, there was nothing they could do but disqualify them.
Team Statement pic.twitter.com/BdV24Y3cFV
— Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) March 23, 2025
For people like Montezemolo, however, it was difficult to digest the result. Although he’s not the chairman anymore, he’s deeply connected to the team, as most Italians are. And watching the team he helped win championships make such costly errors made him angry.
Ecclestone further revealed how there was something Ferrari could have made Leclerc do to avoid his disqualification. “For decades, after crossing the finish line, people have tried to collect as many stones as possible with their tires by going into the gravel.”
Considering that the SF-25, along with almost all cars that afternoon in China, struggled with tire degradation, this was something the Ferrari crew could have asked Leclerc to do. The gravel added to his tires could very well have taken him over the weight limit.
When Vasseur was asked recently about that debacle which led to Leclerc getting disqualified due to tires, he told French publication L’Equipe the following –
“The tires are only part of the explanation. We also lost a liter of water with Charles’s drink tank leaking. Disqualification for weight is always an addition of lots of small factors.
“…We must have been too aggressive. That’s how it is. This setback shows that we are in search of perfection and that, sometimes, we look too far.”
It was a weekend to forget for the Maranello-based outfit, who has now shifted its focus to Japan. First and foremost, the team will aim to avoid a repeat of last time. Additionally, they will hope for a better result and will plan to introduce aerodynamic changes to unlock more of the car’s true potential.
