The 2025 Chinese Grand Prix, held on March 23 at the Shanghai International Circuit, delivered a stunning post-race twist that left the Formula 1 world reeling. Three prominent drivers—Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, and Pierre Gasly—were disqualified after their cars failed to meet technical regulations, stripping Ferrari and Alpine of valuable points in a season already brimming with drama. While disqualifications in F1 are not unheard of, the reasons behind this triple exclusion—and the surprising details that emerged—have sparked intense debate and speculation among fans and insiders alike.

Hamilton, driving for Ferrari in his first season with the team, crossed the line in sixth place, having earlier secured a Sprint race victory the previous day. Leclerc, his teammate, finished fifth, while Gasly, representing Alpine, came in 11th. On the surface, it seemed a decent result for Ferrari, with both drivers in the points, and a near-miss for Gasly. However, post-race scrutineering turned the day upside down. The FIA found Hamilton’s car had excessive wear on its rear skid block, measuring below the mandated 9mm thickness at 8.5mm to 8.6mm. Meanwhile, Leclerc’s Ferrari and Gasly’s Alpine were both deemed underweight, clocking in at 799kg after fuel was drained—1kg below the 800kg minimum required by Article 4.1 of the Technical Regulations.

The immediate assumption might be that the teams intentionally cheated to gain an edge, but the truth is far more surprising—and human. Ferrari explained that Leclerc’s disqualification stemmed from a strategic miscalculation. Running a one-stop strategy, his tires wore excessively over a long final stint, shedding more rubber than anticipated. In F1, tire wear can reduce a car’s weight significantly—up to 8-10kg over a race distance—and Ferrari misjudged this by a razor-thin margin. Hamilton’s case was equally unintentional: the team admitted to “misjudging the consumption” of his skid block, running the car too low to maximize downforce, a setup choice that backfired. Alpine echoed a similar sentiment, calling Gasly’s underweight car a “genuine error” with no performance advantage intended.

What’s shocking isn’t just the errors, but how such fine margins—0.4mm of plank wear, 1kg of weight—can erase entire race results in a sport defined by precision. Ferrari lost 18 points, dropping them to fifth in the Constructors’ Championship, while Alpine remains the only team yet to score in 2025. The disqualifications reshuffled the order, promoting Haas’ Esteban Ocon to fifth and Williams’ Carlos Sainz into the points at 10th, highlighting how even small mistakes can have massive consequences in F1’s tight field.

Fans on X have called it everything from “a travesty” to “just F1 being F1,” but the real surprise lies in the teams’ candid admissions of fault. No appeals were lodged; instead, Ferrari vowed to “learn and ensure it doesn’t happen again.” This rare transparency, paired with the razor-edge nature of modern F1 regulations, reveals a truth more compelling than conspiracy: sometimes, even the biggest names fall victim to the sport’s unforgiving pursuit of perfection.