The 2025 Formula One season has seen six cars disqualified from the Grand Prix, a record number since 1988 when there were two more. It all began badly for Ferrari at the second round in Shanghai, where after claiming Sprint glory Lewis Hamilton was disqualified on Sunday for his car running at an illegal ride height.
His team mate Charles Leclerc was also disqualified for his car being underweight at scrutineering. Pierre Gasly was also excluded from the classified result for his Alone being under weight.
Nico Hulkenberg’s Sauber was also adjudicated to be below the minimum weight in Bahrain and then came the earth shattering news that both McLaren drivers were excluded from the Las Vegas Grand Prix with their cars significantly below the legal ride height.
Ferrari suspension issues all season
This was indeed a shock for McLaren who haven’t looked like they needed to run their cars particularly low all season. Ferrari on the other hand decided to build a “99%” new car for 2025 and have struggled with suspension issues all year.
For the current generation of ground effect cars, the lower the can run, there downforce they create which means the upper surfaces of the car can be thinned out to reduce drag, improving straight line speed.
Ferrari introduced a supposedly ground breaking suspension upgrade in Spa, and despite the group president John Elkann praising the engineers in Maranello for improving the SF-25, in fact the results have deteriorated.
Pre-Belgium, the team were averaging 19 point a weekend, but since the number has fallen to just over 14. Even as recently as Las Vegas, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were receiving ‘lift and coast’ [LICO] instructions which are designed to ensure the plank under the floor which measures ride height is less exposed to grounding.
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Lift and coast to manage plank wear
The McLaren drivers and Lando Norris inn particular were instructed to LICO in Las Vegas as early as lap five, so the team presumably knew even on their installation laps before arriving at the grid there was a potential problem.
Charles Leclerc was infuriated in Hungary when the team took an executive decision to fit his last set of tyres with inflated pressures to reduce the wear on the plank. This cost him a comfortable lead win the race and he trailed him some 42 seconds behind the winner Piastri.
As his lap times dramatically fell away, Leclerc said over team radio. ”I can feel what we discussed before the race… we need to discuss those things before doing them.” Clearly Ferrari had discussed running inflated tyre pressures as a solution to the ride height issues, but instigated the plan without discussing it with their driver.
Leclerc completed the picture with his subsequent message to the team: “This is so incredibly frustrating,” he said. “We’ve lost all competitiveness. You just have to listen to me, I would have found a different way of managing those issues. Now it’s just undriveble. Undriveable. It’s a miracle if we finish on the podium.”
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Ferrari ‘annoyed’ by FIA post race checks
Clearly the way of managing it Leclerc would have preferred wold have been by lifting and coasting, which means the braking into the corner is less severe and the front of the car doesn’t dive as much, protecting the skid block.
McLaren’s misfortune in Sin City hasn’t quite blown the title race wide open, but as Max Verstappen had admitted, to be back in the race he needed “some luck.” Yet one more operational error from the team will see the lurking shark that is the world champion sweep in and clean up once again.
However, the Vegas incidents have revealed a frustration from Ferrari, which has been boiling away underneath the surface. Italian journalist, Jorge Piero penned in his race report. “Beware. In recent weeks, the FIA has tightened controls and started checking all cars. Ferrari is somewhat annoyed by this.
“The Federation makes it clear that it checks every car ‘in the same way’. Just in case anyone has any doubts or suspicions. It’s been the year of the DSQs.” The previous post race methodology for the FIA scrutineering team would be to check the car of the race winner first and then a random sample of other cars who completed the Grand Prix.
The Ferrari gamble foiled
This prevented the less successful teams from believing they would be under the radar given their expectations of a podium were minimal. Ferrari too have endured such expectations coming into a number of race weekends and as such may have been tempted to run their car lower than the data suggests they should.
But with every car now being checked for ride height infringements, this has penalised Ferrari maybe more than most of the other teams. They simply cannot take the risk they did previously, that their cars would not be spot checked as part of a small sample. Yet for them to be ‘annoyed’ about this is quite remarkable, it suggests the team has repeatedly rolled the dice hoping they would not be scrutineered but knowing the car is illegal.
The upcoming second part of the triple header finale to the 2025 season is in Qatar and the Lusail circuit is not ideal for Formula One cars. It was designed and built for top level motorbike racing and in many ways is poorly suited to the F1 monsters of today.
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Unlike Las Vegas, the circuit is smooth and the unexpected porpoising McLaren experienced in Sin City will be absent, so the ride height of the cars and plank wear is less of an issue. However, whilst the perceived wisdom in the paddock that Lusail is a McLaren track is misguided.
In fact McLaren have never won at Lusail, but conversely Max Verstappen has been victorious on two of the outings since the Qatar GP was inaugurated, with Lewis Hamilton winning the first in 2021.
Verstappen since Zandvoort in just seven race weekends has closed down a nigh on impossible gap of 104 points in the drivers’ title race and he now stands level with Oscar Piastri who was leading after the Dutch Grand Prix and is 24 points behind the resurgent Lando Norris.
In search of his record fifth consecutive title, the Dutch driver just needs to finish ahead of his British rival to ensure the battle goes to the final race weekend of the season.
McLaren deceived their drivers during the Las Vegas GP
Just when it looked like Lando Norris had one hand on the 2025 Formula One drivers’ championship, the bombshell that both the team’s cars had been disqualified came late in the night in Las Vegas.
Both Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris were disqualified for running their cars at an illegal ride height, measure by the wear on the underfloor ‘plank.’ The FIA regulations state that the skid block m must be 10mm at the start of the Grand Prix and no more than 9mm come the end of the race.
And the margins were not close. Norris ‘plank’ was 0.12mm under the limit on the right hand side, representing more than 10% of the margin of wear allowed. Piastri’s in the same place was 0.26mm under – more than 25% more than the 1mm allowance…. READ MORE
A.J. Hunt is Senior Editor at TJ13, where Andrew oversees editorial standards and contributes to the site’s Formula 1 coverage. A career journalist with experience in both print and digital sports media, Andrew trained in investigative journalism and has written for a range of European sports outlets.
At TJ13, Andrew plays a central role in shaping the site’s output, working across breaking news, analysis, and long-form features. Andrew’s responsibilities include fact-checking, refining editorial structure, and ensuring consistency in reporting across a fast-moving news cycle.
Andrew’s work focuses particularly on the intersection of Formula 1 politics, regulation, and team strategy. Andrew closely follows developments involving the FIA, team leadership, and driver market dynamics, helping to provide context behind the sport’s biggest stories.
With experience covering multiple seasons of Formula 1’s modern hybrid era, Andrew has developed a detailed understanding of how regulatory changes and competitive shifts influence the grid. Andrew’s editorial approach prioritises clarity and context, aiming to help readers navigate complex developments within the sport.
In addition to editorial duties, Andrew is particularly interested in how media narratives shape fan perception of Formula 1, and how reporting can balance speed with accuracy in an increasingly digital news environment.
