Before China, what was the previous Grand Prix with so many disqualifications?

Disqualifications are not common in F1, and even less so when they concern three drivers during the same Grand Prix Sunday. This weekend in China, Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) and Pierre Gasly (Alpine) thus saw their main race result cancelled: the Monegasque and the French for cars that were too light at the finish, the British for excessive wear of the floor.

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With these three disqualifications, the 2025 Formula 1 season already has more than the entire 2024 season. Last year, George Russell was the only driver to have his classification revoked after crossing the finish line first at Spa-Francorchamps. A second disqualification occurred during the race in Brazil, where Nico Hulkenberg had received outside help to get back on track, being shown a black flag.

Lewis Hamilton had already experienced a similar situation in F1 in Austin in 2023. During the United States Grand Prix, the thickness of the wear pads on his Mercedes was already too weak, which led to his disqualification. Charles Leclerc, then a Ferrari driver, suffered the same fate. Two years later, the two men were once again disqualified from a Grand Prix together, this time as teammates.

The last F1 Grand Prix with three disqualifications was in 2004

To find a Grand Prix with three disqualifications, we have to go back to 2004, more precisely to the Canadian GP. At the end of the Montreal race, the cars Toyota et Williams were disqualified for braking irregularities, as the brake ducts of the four single-seaters did not meet the regulatory dimensions. The drivers concerned were Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya (Williams-BMW), respectively second and fifth in the race, as well as Cristiano Da Matta and Olivier Panis (Toyota), initially eighth and tenth.

As for seeing two drivers from the same team disqualified, as was the case for Ferrari in Shanghai this Sunday, the last time was at the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix. Renault de Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hülkenberg were then excluded from the final result due to a non-compliant braking system.

Daniel Ricciardo and Renault were disqualified in Japan in 2019 – Photo: FLORENT GOODEN / DPPI Media

Other teams have experienced this misfortune, such as Sauber in Australia in 2011 (double disqualification for illegal wing), Midland in Germany in 2006 (rear wing too flexible), BAR-Honda in San Marino in 2005 (cars too light due to an illegal fuel tank) or Williams-BMW and Toyota, as mentioned previously.

The common thread between all these double disqualifications is that they had a common cause. To find a case where two cars from the same team were disqualified for different reasons, like Ferrari this Sunday, you have to go back to Australia 2002 with Arrows.

Enrique Bernoldi had changed cars without permission, while his teammate Heinz-Harald Frentzen had left the pit lane after ignoring the red light. Both drivers were then black-flagged on laps 15 and 16 respectively.