Leclerc and Gasly face disqualification from the Chinese Grand Prix
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Alpine's Pierre Gasly are facing a possible disqualification from the Chinese Grand Prix after their cars have been found underweight during the post-race technical investigation.
Having started the Chinese Grand Prix from P6 on the grid, Charles Leclerc gained a place at the start, overtaking reigning champion Max Verstappen into Turn 1. However, the Monegasque made contact with his new team-mate Lewis Hamilton in Turn 2, and as a result of the incident he picked up a serious damage to his front wing endplate.
Despite considering a front wing change during the pit stop, Ferrari and Leclerc elected to continue with the damaged part as a longer pit stop would have seen Leclerc fall down the order, and the sprint race saw drivers struggle to complete an overtaking move due to the overheating front tyres and turbulent wake.
In the end, the Monegasque displayed a strong pace, and finished fifth with his damaged front wing. However, the FIA noted after the race that his SF-25 was found underweight during the post-race technical investigation.
The Jo Bauer-led FIA technical group replaced Leclerc's damaged front wing with a spare part which was 0.2kg heavier, albeit his SF-25 was still one kg under the minimum weight limit after 2.0 litres of fuel were removed from the car.
"After the Race, car number 16 was weighed and its weight was 800.0kg, which is the minimum weight required by TR Article 4.1," FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer's report said.
"As the front wing was damaged (the missing FW endplate was recovered and weighed with the car), the car was re-weighed with an official spare front wing assembly of car 16 and its weight was 800.5kg. After this, fuel was drained out of the car and 2.0 litres of fuel were removed. The car was drained according to the draining procedure submitted by the team in their legality document.
"The car was weighed again on the FIA scales (with the official spare front wing assembly of car 16) and the weight was 799.0kg. The calibration of the scales was confirmed and witnessed by the competitor. For information the spare front wing was 0.2kg heavier than the damaged one used during the race. As this is 1.0kg below the minimum weight requested in TR Article 4.1, which also has to be respected at all times during the Competition, I am referring this matter to the Stewards for their consideration.
Alpine's Pierre Gasly is also facing a possible disqualification after his car was one kg lighter than the minimum.
“After the Race, car number 10 was weighed and its weight was 800.0kg, which is the minimum weight required by TR Article 4.1. After this, a fuel mass check was carried out and 1.1kg of fuel were removed. The car was drained according to the draining procedure submitted by the team in their legality document.
"The car was weighed again on the FIA scales and the weight was 799.0kg. The calibration of the scales was confirmed and witnessed by the competitor. As this is 1.0kg below the minimum weight requested in TR Article 4.1, which also has to be respected at all times during the Competition, I am referring this matter to the Stewards for their consideration."
