Ferrari’s Shanghai Disaster: From Hamilton’s Sprint Glory to a Humiliating DSQ
Twenty-four hours can feel like an eternity in Formula 1. Just a day ago, Lewis Hamilton stood atop the podium, basking in the glory of his first victory in Ferrari red after a thrilling Sprint win. Fast forward to Sunday night in Shanghai, and the dream had turned into a nightmare—both Hamilton and Charles Leclerc disqualified in a gut-wrenching blow to Ferrari’s 2025 campaign.
Ferrari’s double DSQ is more than just a technical blunder; it’s an unthinkable embarrassment for a team of their pedigree. Hamilton’s car failed post-race checks due to skid block wear, falling just 0.5mm short of regulations—a tiny margin but enough for an automatic disqualification. Leclerc’s offense? His car weighed 1kg under the minimum requirement. While the violations might seem minor, the consequences are anything but. The FIA had no choice but to deliver the hammer blow, erasing Ferrari’s results and dealing a serious setback to their championship hopes.
Sound familiar? It should. Back in 2023, Leclerc suffered a near-identical fate in the United States GP, disqualified for excessive plank wear. Ironically, Hamilton was also DSQ’d in that same race—only back then, he was still in Mercedes colors. Ferrari’s latest blunder has left fans questioning: how does a team with over 70 years of F1 experience still make these fundamental errors?
The impact of this catastrophe is seismic. Ferrari has now gifted McLaren a massive lead in the constructors’ standings after Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris secured a dominant one-two finish. Meanwhile, Hamilton—who should have been celebrating a podium charge—is languishing in ninth place in the drivers’ standings, trailing Norris by a whopping 35 points just two races into the season.
Even before this disaster, tensions were bubbling at Ferrari. Hamilton’s radio clashes with his new race engineer Riccardo Adami in Australia hinted at growing frustrations. Those frustrations will only intensify if Ferrari continues to sabotage itself. Team boss Fred Vasseur’s lighthearted demeanor is quickly wearing thin in the face of repeated failures.
For Hamilton, his fairytale Ferrari switch has started more like a horror story: 10th place in Australia, DSQ in China. Despite his Sprint success, the magic of his Scuderia move is already fading. With Japan looming in two weeks, Ferrari must find a way to stop the bleeding—before this season spirals into yet another missed opportunity.
