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Mar.24 (GMM) The jubilation of Lewis Hamilton’s breakthrough Ferrari win from pole in the Shanghai sprint exploded in spectacular style just a single day later.
Charles Leclerc and Hamilton were fifth and sixth respectively as they crossed the chequered flag – after their first collision early in the race and even amid controversy after the seven time world champion was ordered to move aside.
Team boss Frederic Vasseur slammed Formula One Management for the latter.
“It’s a joke from FOM because the idea came from Lewis’ side,” he said. “Lewis suggested that we swap. To create confusion and make a show, they (F1) only aired the second part of the story.
“I will talk to them about it, and I understand your question, but please ask Stefano (Domenicali) because I am not responsible for the broadcast,” the furious Frenchman added.
Vasseur, however, was talking before FIA scrutineers found both Hamilton and Leclerc’s cars to be illegal – and for totally different reasons.
Leclerc’s car was underweight, with Ferrari explaining that it was due to excessive tyre wear. But there were also suggestions that Leclerc was missing part of his front wing following the Hamilton clash.
“It’s not like that would add up to two kilos,” former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher told Sky Deutschland. “They need to factor that in just to be safe – at least 1.5 kilos.
“So, from that perspective, it’s just incompetence,” the German added.
As for Hamilton’s disqualification, the plank was found to have worn beyond the legal limit. “We misjudged the consumption by a small margin,” Ferrari explained in a statement. “There was no intention to gain any advantage.”
Again, Schumacher insisted there is no excuse.
“After the sprint, you can assume that the engineer should know what he’s doing,” he said.
“Saturday was so good for them, then on Sunday they were slow, and then they were disqualified. “Of course it’s not possible to win world championships like this.”
Already, the notoriously-tough Italian media is beginning to become concerned.
“My feeling is that the SF-25 is the product of a project that is too complicated,” renowned journalist Leo Turrini told Sky Italia.
“A reaction is needed immediately – in Japan.”
