Lewis Hamilton disqualification prompts Ferrari ‘trust’ issues claim

Sky Sports F1 pundit Bernie Collins has claimed that Ferrari’s disqualification from the Chinese Grand Prix could lead to ‘trust’ issues at the team for Formula 1 legend Lewis Hamilton.

The jokes have been written and the memes have been posted, but Ferrari’s double-disqualification in Shanghai could have long-lasting repercussions for Hamilton after the team failed to protect his car against excessive wear on the skid block.

An instant disqualification from the FIA tarnished what could have been a celebratory weekend following Hamilton's first Ferrari victory in the Sprint, and only compounded the champion's post-race misery after he struggled to match the pace of Charles Leclerc during the grand prix.

Bernie Collins, a former strategy engineer at Aston Martin, has revealed how important the trust between a new driver and their team back in the garage is, warning Ferrari about their relationship with Hamilton after Sunday's disqualification.

Will Ferrari recover from Chinese GP disqualification?

Collins said to Sky Sports: "When Sebastian Vettel came to us at Aston Martin, I really wanted him to think we were good at our jobs."

"I really wanted him to go ‘if she calls me to pit, I’m going to do it’ because I trust the team. Now we have had a strategy thing, a radio thing and now disqualification, so it makes the driver unsure."

"Lewis was really struggling in the car on Sunday and the car was illegal. The changes in set-up didn’t react in the way he wanted to, or he wouldn’t have been so slow in the race, and they’ve been illegal.

"So it is a bump. If they go through it and they find whatever’s wrong, then Lewis can get over that pretty quickly. But it’s one of these little things that adds to the lack of trust."

Not only was Hamilton disqualified from the race, but so was his team-mate Leclerc whose Ferrari was found to be 1kg underweight.

As a result of their points loss in China, Ferrari have dropped to fifth place in the constructors’ championship, behind Williams, whilst Hamilton and Leclerc cling on to the top ten in the drivers' standings.

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