China Grand Prix result overturned over shock driver disqualifications
The Chinese Grand Prix result has been flipped after a handful of drivers were disqualified from the race hours after it had been run.
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The Chinese Grand Prix result has been drastically changed after three drivers were disqualified hours after the chequered flag.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc were both disqualified after their cars came in under weight.
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Fellow Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton was also disqualified due to excessive skid wear with his rearmost skids having been measured below the 9mm minimum thickness limit.
All three drivers were sent directly to the stewards with the FIA ultimately bringing down the hammer on the trio.
The disqualification means Ferrari have lost 18 points and continues their lacklustre start to the 2025 season.
Gasly finished the race in 11th position and was outside of the points scoring places.
Watch the Ferrari cars get weighed in the video above
Ferrari said in a statement: “Charles was on a one-stop strategy today and this meant his tyre wear was very high, causing the car to be underweight.
“With regard to Lewis’ skid wear, we misjudged the consumption by a small margin.
“There was no intention to gain any advantage. We will learn from what happened today and make sure we don’t make the same mistakes again.
“Clearly it’s not the way we wanted to end our Chinese GP weekend, neither for ourselves, nor for our fans whose support is unwavering.”
Ferrari entered the 2025 season with high hopes after bringing in seven-time world champion Hamilton to partner with Leclerc.
After showing promising signs during pre-season testing, things fell apart during the Australian Grand Prix.
The duo struggled to keep up with their rivals as they finished the opening race of the season in eighth and tenth place.
Things looked to have turned a corner in China with the car showing remarkable pace during sprint qualifying before Hamilton saluted to take the sprint race victory.
But they couldn’t keep that pace going in the race proper with Leclerc finishing fifth, one place ahead of Hamilton.
The original result of Leclerc’s fifth placed finish was enough for him to surpass Sebastian Vettel as the driver who has scored the most championship points ever for Ferrari (1409).
But the disqualification meant that honour was taken off Leclerc and Vettel (1400) remains Ferrari’s all-time points leader, at least for now.
Charles Leclerc becoming Ferrari's all-time leading points scorer only to be disqualified after the race and thus losing the record is literally the most Charles Leclerc thing ever.
— Daniel Valente ðï¸ (@F1GuyDan) March 23, 2025
If it wasn't for bad luck, he wouldn't have any luck at all.
After the opening two races, Ferrari sit equal fourth on the Constructors Standings tied with Williams on 17 points and marginally ahead of Haas on 14.
2025 China Grand Prix results
1: Oscar Piastri, 2: Lando Norris, 3: George Russell, 4: Max Verstappen, 5: Esteban Ocon, 6: Kimi Antonelli, 7: Alex Albon, 8: Ollie Bearman, 9: Lance Stroll, 10: Carlos Sainz, 11: Isack Hadjar, 12: Liam Lawson, 13: Jack Doohan, 14: Gabriel Bortoleto, 15: Nico Hulkenberg, 16: Yuki Tsunoda.
Australian star Oscar Piastri dominated the race, leading from start to finish as he notched the third victory of his young career.
The 23-year-old started was challenged after the lights went out by Mercedes’ George Russell, he clung to his lead and then drove a race labelled “absolutely flawless” by commentator and F1 veteran Martin Brundle.
Having occupied second place behind teammate Lando Norris for the majority of the weather-affected Australian Grand Prix last week, Piastri’s hopes of a breakthrough podium at his home race were dashed when he slipped off the track on lap 44.
He recovered to grab ninth and his first points of the season, but it was a disappointing start to his third F1 season.
That is all a distant memory now as the unstoppable Victorian finished clear of Norris and Russell at the Shanghai International Circuit.
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Originally published as China Grand Prix result overturned over shock driver disqualifications