F1 Chinese Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton disqualification a watershed moment for Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton Chinese GP disqualification a watershed moment for Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton has endured a mixed bag of results in red at the Chinese GP

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Saturday 14 March 2026 11:55 Updated: 17:18

Lewis Hamilton's blockbuster move to Ferrari became the biggest news of the season before it had even begun back in 2024 when he shocked Mercedes fans by announcing his departure.

After 12 hugely successful seasons with the Silver Arrows, Hamilton broke the hearts of his loyal Mercedes followers, and Toto Wolff, all in the name of finally fulfilling his childhood dream of racing in red.

But after the tifosi had patiently waited an entire year after the announcement to see the British legend finally move to Maranello, that dream quickly developed into a nightmare.

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P10 in his first race for the Scuderia was not the start Hamilton would have been hoping for in 2025, but his risky team switch finally came good at the second round of the season, picking up a stunning sprint victory, which remains his most recent race win to this day.

But something turned for Hamilton that weekend in Shanghai when both he and team-mate Charles Leclerc were both disqualified from the full-length Chinese GP. Leclerc for his car being underweight and Hamilton after the skid blocks on his car had been found to be below the minimum 9mm thickness.

Last year's Chinese GP disqualification seemed to unlock a side of Hamilton that his loyal fans could not bear to watch, with the seven-time champion at one point even suggesting his new team should replace him.

A year on from this pivotal point in Hamilton's career and the 41-year-old is transformed, but can Ferrari keep up?

How are Ferrari looking one year on from double disqualification?

With a new season comes a fresh start, and both Hamilton and Ferrari have a lot riding on 2026 having spent a large majority of their disastrous 2025 campaign hyping up their potential for this year.

This year's Chinese GP once again marks only the second round of the campaign, but the state of the competitive field is already becoming clear, and Ferrari look to be setting themselves up for a season as the second-best team.

His old Mercedes squad took an early championship lead after securing their first one-two at the season-opening Australian GP, but the Scuderia have embarrassed the Silver Arrows when it comes to their lightning fast race start procedure.

Though the Scuderia have showed signs in Shanghai that they are capable of competing with the pace of Mercedes, they do however lack endurance, with Toto Wolff's team managing to still come out on top in this year's Chinese GP sprint thanks to championship leader George Russell.

Another podium, but Hamilton still isn't happy

Hamilton's race craft was finally back on full display in this weekend's Shanghai sprint when he shone once again, with the pace of his SF-26 flattered by a poor start from the other Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli.

Thanks to the energy deployment rules which are new to the sport for 2026, the race leader then flip-flopped between Hamilton and Russell, with the Mercedes clearly the stronger of the two cars after a cat and mouse like display.

Having led the 100km race on and off on Saturday, Hamilton's tyre life suffered and his position in the field then took another hit after the Scuderia opted to double stack their driver duo under the safety car.

After following Leclerc into the pits, the British legend lost time and a place having been overtaken by Lando Norris, with Ferrari proving once again that plenty of work is still required on the pit wall to give Hamilton the best shot at fighting at the front of the pack again.

In the words of Sky F1's David Croft: "Even on a good day, Ferrari seemingly get it wrong with their strategy."

Why Shanghai sprint result wasn’t enough for Hamilton

A year on from Hamilton's last race win and first victory in red, the Brit only managed to cross the line P3 and crucially behind his team-mate after the pair had battled at times a little too closely on track.

During Hamilton's post-sprint race interview, his dissatisfaction with the podium was blatantly obvious, proving that he knew he had a better result than P3 in his locker on Saturday.

Will Chinese GP kick off Ferrari revival?

After a true mixed bag of results in Shanghai this time last year, Hamilton is looking for redemption this weekend at a track where he still holds the record for the most pole positions.

But never fear, his downbeat interview on Saturday is not a sign that the disastrously negative version of himself has returned from last season, instead it is a sign that he knows the Italian team have built a car capable of fighting for podiums and race wins, and if you're as delusional as I am, perhaps even that coveted eighth world championship.

Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

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F1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Chinese Grand Prix Shanghai International Circuit