Bernie Ecclestone believes that the double disqualification suffered by Ferrari at the Chinese Grand Prix was the ‘biggest disgrace’ in the team’s F1 history. Both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were removed from the classification after failing post-race inspections. The Chinese GP weekend was a rollercoaster of emotions for Hamilton and Ferrari.

The seven-time world champion headed into the weekend on uncertain ground after an underwhelming debut event for the team and the driver in Melbourne. However, Hamilton hit the ground running in Shanghai. He impressed in free practice and scored a surprise sprint shootout P1 award on Friday. Then, on Saturday, the 40-year-old dominated the sprint race to score his first victory as a Ferrari driver. That was where the good fortune ended, though.

In qualifying, Ferrari’s pace evaporated, and it didn’t return on race day either. Leclerc crossed the line in P5 after being overtaken by Max Verstappen late on, while Hamilton was scored one place further back in P6 after struggling to extract any pace from his SF-25 machine.

Following routine post-race inspections by the FIA, Hamilton’s car was found to have exceeded the maximum permitted skid block wear by 0.5mm, and he was subsequently disqualified. Leclerc met the same fate after his machine weighed in 1kg underweight.

“I met the former Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo there,” former F1 supremo Ecclestone told Blick. “He was horrified by Ferrari’s two disqualifications in China. Italy had never experienced such a disgrace since the start of the World Championship!”

While Hamilton’s disqualification was ultimately unavoidable for the Brit once he stepped behind the wheel due to Ferrari's set-up choices, Ecclestone believes that Leclerc could have avoided meeting the same fate as his team-mate with some preventative action.

“There was clearly no control centre to check the cars after qualifying,” he said. “There has been an age-old rule about being underweight for decades. Drive through the mud after crossing the finish line and collect as many stones as possible with the tyres in the gravel.”

Ferrari are now in a precarious position heading into the third round of the season in Japan. The Italian constructor sits fifth in the Constructors’ Championship standings, level on points with Williams. Meanwhile, the gap to current leaders McLaren stands at a daunting 61, and Andrea Stella’s team are showing no signs of slowing down.