Explained: Why were Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly disqualified from F1 Chinese GP

Ferrari drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, along with Alpine driver Pierre Gasly, were disqualified from the 2025 Chinese Grand Prix after failing the FIA's post-race checks. Hamilton was disqualified at the end of the Chinese Grand Prix for having excessive plank wear on his SF-25. The seven-time F1 world champion was found guilty of having less than the allowed minimum thickness of the planks under the FIA Technical Regulations.

In a statement released by the sport's governing body, they explained (via Sky Sports:

"The plank assembly of Car 44 (Lewis Hamilton) was measured and found to be 8.6mm (LHS), 8.6mm (car centerline) and 8.5mm (RHS). This is below the minimum thickness of 9mm specified under Article 3.5.9 of the Technical Regulations."

The Italian team had a similar fate at the end of the 2023 US Grand Prix in Austin when Charles Leclerc was disqualified for a similar ruling.

In Shanghai, the 27-year-old was found guilty of having an underweight car as his SF-25 was measured at 799kg and was just a kilogram off the minimum requirement. The decision read:

"Car 16 (Charles Leclerc) was weighed by the FIA Technical Delegate inside and outside scales with both scales showing the same result of 799 kg after the customary draining of fuel and the replacement of a broken front wing.

"The calibration of both scales was confirmed and witnessed by the competitor. During the hearing there was no challenge to the FIA’s measurements which are taken to be correct and that all required procedures were performed correctly."

Pierre Gasly had the same fate as his friend Charles Leclerc and his A525 too was 1kg underweight on the FIA post-race checks. The decision ripped Ferrari off 18 points from the race, with Gasly not getting any points for the second race running.

How did Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly fare in the race?

Hamilton and Leclerc started the main race from P5 and P6, respectively, and made a fast start, passing Red Bull driver Max Verstappen ahead of them. However, it was a near-miss for the Monegasque driver as he got his front wing endplate damaged after colliding with his teammate's rear tires.

The damage meant that the eight-time F1 race winner lost around 20 to 30 points of downforce compared to the rivals near him. But the damage did not restrict Charles Leclerc's progress as he was the faster of the two Ferrari drivers and ultimately got ahead of Lewis Hamilton after the latter let him through to chase George Russell's P3.

The Ferrari driver was unable to catch his Mercedes counterpart and was passed by Max Verstappen in the final laps of the race after his tires gave way to finish P5 ahead of his teammate Lewis Hamilton.

Pierre Gasly, on the other hand, had a lackluster race. He could only muster a P11 finish and was passed by Haas's Oliver Bearman. However, all three drivers lost their classified results after failing the FIA's post-race checks for different reasons.