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Leclerc, Hamilton and Gasly China disqualifications confirmed

Leclerc, Hamilton and Gasly China disqualifications confirmed
Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Gasly have all been disqualified from the Chinese Grand Prix for failing post-race technical checks.

Leclerc and Gasly were found to be underweight by 1kg per car, with both Ferrari and Alpine admitting that there were no mitigating factors for their infringements.

“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,” the stewards wrote relating to both teams. “There are no mitigating circumstances and that the team confirmed that it was a genuine error by them.”

Hamilton’s car was cited for having excessive wear to the rearward skids, and Ferrari similarly admitted there was no reason other than a setup mistake that had led to the issue.

“During the hearing the team representative confirmed that the measurement is correct and that all required procedures were performed correctly,” the stewards repeated. “The team also acknowledged that there were no mitigating circumstances and that it was a genuine error by the team.”

Both Ferraris being disqualified had a significant impact on the final points as Leclerc and Hamilton had originally finished fifth and sixth respectively. Esteban Ocon is now promoted to fifth for Haas ahead of Kimi Antonelli and Alex Albon, with Ollie Bearman, Lance Stroll and Carlos Sainz rounding out the points.

Gasly would have profited from the Ferrari infringements having originally crossed the line 11th, but for his own disqualification that leaves Alpine as the only team yet to score a point this season.

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Originally posted by 220-9er:
An interesting race to see the different strategies and how they worked out.

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I would have thought the officials could have said that it was a potential danger to Charles and other competitors, not to mention the competitive advantage and insisted that it be replaced.

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Also interested to see if Red Bull swaps Yuki and Lawson, especially with the next race being in Japan. Can anyone but Max drive that car effectively?

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Jack Doohan racks up four penalty points in one weekend after China GP ordeal

Jack Doohan finishes the first two Grands Prix with no championship points, but instead four penalty points on his super licence.

The Australian driver finished the Chinese sprint race in 20th and the Grand Prix in 13th, and although he didn't leave the Shanghai International Circuit with championship points, he did walk away with four penalty points on his super licence. Here's how.

Chinese sprint race: 10-second penalty and 2 penalty points
Doohan's first penalty of the weekend came after causing a collision with Sauber driver Gabriel Bortoleto, a breach of Appendix L, Chapter IV, Article 2 d) of the FIA International Sporting Code.

The stewards issued a 10-second time penalty and two penalty points to Doohan after they confirmed that he had attempted to overtake Bortoleto on the inside of Turn 14, but instead collided with the Sauber after locking up at the apex. The official statement from the stewards reads:

"DOO [Doohan] suggested that he was in control of the overtake but the presence of the two Haas cars and the line they took compromised his overtake attempt.

"First, as the car attempting to overtake, the responsibility was on DOO to ensure that it was done in a safe manner and in line with the regulations and the guidelines.

"Secondly, applying the Driving Standards Guidelines, DOO did not have the right to the corner at the apex and should have backed off – here, because of the speed at which he approached the corner for the overtake and the resulting lockup and understeer, a collision was caused, for which DOO was predominantly to blame."

Chinese Grand Prix: 10-second penalty and 2 penalty points
Another incident involving Doohan took place during the Grand Prix, where he was found to have forced Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar off the track, breaching Appendix L, Chapter IV, Article 2 b) of the International Sporting Code.

Again at Turn 14, the Alpine driver attempted to take his position back from Hadjar after he had previously overtaken him in the run-up to the corner, but ended up forcing the 20-year-old wide and off the track. The stewards determined:

"Car 7 (DOO) was overtaken by Car 6 (HAD) in the run up to Turn 14 and in trying to take the position back on the inside, DOO lost control, locked up and forced HAD off the track. We accordingly imposed a 10 second time penalty with 2 penalty points which is in keeping with the guidelines for forcing a driver off the track."

Doohan hopes to turn his luck around at the Japanese Grand Prix, which will kick off the first triple-header of the 2025 season, in two weeks.

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Red Bull have announced that Yuki Tsunoda will replace Liam Lawson at the senior Red Bull Racing squad from the Japanese Grand Prix onwards, with the 24-year-old getting the nod to replace Lawson following a difficult opening two races for the New Zealander.

Lawson raced alongside Tsunoda in the latter stages of 2024 after replacing Daniel Ricciardo at the then-named RB team, and his performances were enough to earn him a promotion to Red Bull as Max Verstappen’s new team mate in 2025 following the exit of Sergio Perez.

However, Lawson struggled to get to grips with the RB21 during the Australian and Chinese Grand Prix weekends, crashing out in the former amid treacherous conditions before crossing the line in 15th in Shanghai, which later became 12th following the disqualifications of Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Gasly ahead.

Rumours quickly mounted that the 23-year-old could be replaced at the team as early as Round 3 in Japan, and now it has been confirmed that Tsunoda will fill Lawson’s seat when F1 returns to Suzuka on April 4-6 – with Lawson returning to the Racing Bulls squad alongside rookie Isack Hadjar.

After making his debut for the then-named AlphaTauri squad back in 2021, Tsunoda has continued to develop as a driver across the years that have followed, the Japanese racer having outscored his recent team mates including Nyck de Vries and Daniel Ricciardo.

The 2024 campaign was one that Tsunoda heralded as “one of my best” after scoring 30 of his team’s 46 points across the season.

He went on to make his test debut for Red Bull at the post-season test in Abu Dhabi – but it was subsequently confirmed that Lawson rather than Tsunoda would replace Perez at the Milton Keynes-based outfit in 2025.

Tsunoda – now in his fifth campaign in Formula 1 – went on to state that he could “understand” why the team chose Lawson, insisting that he didn’t feel “super angry or disappointed” upon hearing the news.

But with Lawson’s Red Bull tenure ending after just two races, Tsunoda has been given his opportunity to race alongside Verstappen at the championship-winning squad – starting with his home event at Suzuka.

Lawson, meanwhile, will return to Racing Bulls where he will partner with rookie Isack Hadjar – the situation mirroring the cases of Daniil Kvyat and Pierre Gasly, who each returned to the sister outfit from Red Bull after three races into 2016 and 12 in 2019 respectively.

Red Bull Team Principal and CEO Christian Horner said: "It has been difficult to see Liam struggle with the RB21 at the first two races and, as a result, we have collectively taken the decision to make an early switch. We came into the 2025 season with two ambitions, to retain the World Drivers' Championship and to reclaim the World Constructors' title and this is a purely sporting decision.

"We acknowledge there is a lot of work to be done with the RB21 and Yuki's experience will prove highly beneficial in helping to develop the current car. We welcome him to the Team and are looking forward to seeing him behind the wheel of the RB21.

"We have a duty of care to protect and develop Liam and together, we see that after such a difficult start, it makes sense to act quickly so Liam can gain experience, as he continues his F1 career with Visa Cash App Racing Bulls, an environment and a Team he knows very well."

Laurent Mekies, Team Principal of Racing Bulls, said: “We’re incredibly proud of Yuki earning his well-deserved move to Oracle Red Bull Racing! His progress last year, and more recently from the very start of 2025, has been nothing less than sensational.

“Personally, and collectively, it has been an immense privilege to witness those progresses for all of us in Faenza and in Milton Keynes. Yuki’s energy and positivity has lightened up every corner of our factories and of our garage and he will always be a Racing Bull! We wish him all the success he deserves at ORBR.

“Everyone here at VCARB is looking forward to working hard with Liam to give him the best environment possible for him to shine in our car and to express the talent we all know he has. He fit in so well last year, and we cannot wait to challenge ourselves and grow as a team. With Isack having started so strongly with us already, we know we have a young and strong line-up.”

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Makes you wonder if pushing all development to suit the #1 really puts the hurt on #2.

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Originally posted by ChuckFinley:
I agree 100% with the recent posts. While things didn't work out well for Daniel all that has transpired since does underscore the point that he was feeling/making.

If Yuki does no better then it will make it abundantly clear that the team's approach has been to blame for torpedoing Daniel's career and everyone's since in the #2.

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Originally posted by Georgeair:
While not a direct parallel, this all reminds me a bit of the movie Moneyball.

It feels like many of the top teams have become properly focused on the money, aka the Constructors championship. All the chatter about McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes drivers taking Drivers points off each other to the possible advantage of Max just further illustrates the old-school and flawed approach.

They do have to balance the inter-team dynamics which is a challenge when you have two drivers like LN/OP for example. However the upside of being able to eclipse teams that are still mired in the 75-year model of a senior #1 driver and a junior #2 will yield much more money to the teams and afford the drivers ultimately more opportunity to be and stay at the pointy end.

Or I may be crazy.....

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Originally posted by 220-9er:
At least they'll have a quick answer if Yuki's all he claims to be and if the cars' really that bad to setup.
Maybe Max needs a #2 that has better engineering skills to help with feedback.
He seems to be having an increasingly difficult time there too, so it's not just that an unstable car is quicker and only he can drive it.

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Originally posted by smlsig:
If Yuki can keep his head down and not start whining he should do well. You have to think he realizes that this is his one shot at a top team and if he doesn’t perform and get up to speed quickly well…..