Ferrari F1: Lewis Hamilton speaks out after his Chinese GP disqualification "we must never do this again!"

The Chinese Grand Prix was a weekend to forget for the Scuderia Ferrari, with not only two cars disqualified, but also a series of unfortunate technical decisions. Among the many victims of this chaotic race were Lewis Hamiltonwhose disqualification on account of a worn-out floorboard added to the Scuderia's woes. Following this event, the seven-time world champion of Formula 1 took the floor to express his frustration and the lessons he had learned from the incident.

A costly disqualification for Ferrari

The weekend in Shanghai got off to a promising start for Ferrari, with Sprint victory for Hamilton. But things quickly got out of hand in Sunday's qualifying session, when modifications to the SF-25 compromised the car's performance. Hamilton, who was in a good position before the adjustments, saw his single-seater fall to 6th place in the qualifying roundA situation that was to get worse during the race.

Despite efforts to get back into the race, excessive wear on the skid underneath Hamilton's car has led to disqualification. The FIA stewards found that the floor thickness was below the authorized limit of 9 mm, which led to Hamilton's exclusion from the race. A bitter defeat for the team, especially as Charles Leclerc suffered a similar fate, albeit for different reasons. Leclerc had seen his Ferrari disqualified for an incorrect weight, after the fuel required for post-race testing had been withdrawn.

Hamilton: "I'm glad I tried, but..."

Speaking about his experience after the race, Hamilton made no secret of his frustration, but also stressed the importance of learning from the experience. "I'm glad I tried something, but... it wasn't the right direction," he explained. The Ferrari driver admitted that he had had to modify his car's configuration after a relatively solid performance in the Sprint, but that the adjustments made before the qualifiers had worsened the situation.

"We made some changes, but not massive ones, rather small ones. The whole thing made things worse," Hamilton added, pointing out that the changes were supposed to improve the car, but actually worsened its behavior. "Charles had tested something in Bahrain, and I hadn't, but we both did the same, and it was crazy! I know we must never do that again!"

Hamilton detailed the performance degradation process: "Our car was pretty decent in the Sprint, then we made some changes to try to progress and improve the car. But we made things considerably worse before qualifying, and it was even worse in the race." He also mentioned that Ferrari's strategy, which had involved an extra pit stop, only added to the difficulty, with a backlog that was difficult to make up, even with fresher tires.

The Briton concluded by saying that the disqualification situation was a hard lesson for the team: "It was a real shame, but it was very, very difficult to keep up with those in front. We lost a lot of learning time."