Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix was a great day for McLaren, as Oscar Piastri beat teammate Lando Norris for a 1-2 finish in Shanghai.
As for Ferrari? Not so much.
Ferrari suffered a post-race double disqualification of Charles LeClerc and Lewis Hamilton.
Piastri, who finished in 1 hour, 30 minutes and 55.026 seconds, held the lead from the pole position and made only one stop as race strategy centered around tire management.
“It’s been an incredible weekend,” Piastri told ESPN post-race. “The car has been pretty mega. Today was a surprise, how differently the tires behaved. This feels like what I deserved from last week.”
Piastri was running second in Australia last week, but spun out.
Norris finished 9.748 seconds behind Piastri and was forced to contend with a brake pedal issue late in the race.
“A few fun moments. The start I was hoping for, but then George (Russell, who finished third) got me in the pit stops,” Norris said. “I was a little nervous, but we were better in the second stint.
“Oscar drove well, he deserved the win.”
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen finished fourth, followed by Ferrari’s LeClerc and Hamilton. On the track, anyway.
After the race, LeClerc was disqualified because his car was under the minimum weight of 800 kilograms (1763.7 pounds), and Hamilton was DQ’d because of excessive plank wear underneath his car. Plank wear is measured to prevent cars from seeking an aerodynamic advantage by running too low.
The disqualifications capped off a horrid Sunday for Ferrari.
LeClerc lost a portion of his front wing in a minor collision with Hamilton on the first lap of the race. And Hamilton struggled with tire management, opting for a second pit stop while the five cars ahead of him completed the distance on just one stop.
Pierre Gasly of Alpine, who placed 11th on the track, also was disqualified because his car was underweight.
After the Ferrari disqualifications were assessed, it was determined that Esteban Ocon of Haas finished fifth. Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes was sixth, followed by Alex Albon of Williams, Hass’ Oliver Bearman, and Lance Stroll of Aston-Martin and Carlos Sainz of WIlliams in ninth and 10th, respectively.
— Field Level Media
