Both Ferrari drivers and Pierre Gasly are at risk of disqualification from the Chinese Grand Prix after their cars failed post-race technical checks.
Charles Leclerc and Gasly’s cars were found to weight 799 kilograms after post-race checks, including the removal of fuel, were performed. The minimum weight limit is set at 800kg.
Lewis Hamilton’s car failed a check of its rearmost skid, which is required to measure at least nine millimetres. Three measurements of of Hamilton’s skid at different points were less than this.
Representatives of Ferrari and Alpine have been summoned to meet the stewards.
The discrepancies were reported by FIA Formula 1 technical delegate Jo Bauer who has reported the matters to the stewards. The standard penalty for cars which fail technical checks is disqualification, as happened to George Russell in the Belgian Grand Prix last year, which he won before his car was found to be beneath the minimum weight limit.
Leclerc finished fifth in today’s race, Hamilton sixth and Gasly 11th. If all three drivers are disqualified, Lance Stroll will inherit ninth place and Carlos Sainz Jnr will move up to 10th.
Leclerc lost part of his front wing when he made contact with Lewis Hamilton at the start of the race. The stewards took this into account by comparing the weight of his damaged wing with that of a spare provided by Ferrari. The undamaged wing was 200 grams heavier.
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Technical delegate’s reports on Leclerc, Gasly and Hamilton’s cars
After the race, car number 16 [Leclerc] was weighed and its weight was 800.0 kg, which is the minimum weight required by TR Article 4.1. 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 800.5 kg.
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 799.0 kg. The calibration of the scales was confirmed and witnessed by the competitor. For information the spare front wing was 0.2 kg heavier than the damaged one used during the race.
As this is 1.0 kg 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.
After the race, car number 10 [Gasly] was weighed and its weight was 800.0 kg, which is the minimum weight required by TR Article 4.1. After this, a fuel mass check was carried out and 1.1 kg 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 799.0 kg. The calibration of the scales was confirmed and witnessed by the competitor.
As this is 1.0 kg 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.
The skid wear of car number 44 was checked.
The rearmost skid was measured according to the team’s legality documents submission in accordance with TD039 L, item 1.2 b) i). Measurements were taken along the stiffness compliant area at three different points of the periphery (inner arc). The recorded measurement were 8.6mm (LHS), 8.6mm (car centerline) and 8.5mm (RHS).
As this is less than the 9 mm minimum thickness required by TR Article 3.5.9 e), I am referring this matter to the stewards for their consideration.
This article will be updated
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