Ferrari suffer massive blow with devastating double DSQ from Chinese GP

Last year’s race saw Oscar Piastri hold on to the position he secured with pole on Saturday, despite heavy pressure from George Russell. The Mercedes driver ultimately paid the price, losing second place to Lando Norris, giving McLaren a 1-2 by the end of the opening lap.

The race then unfolded fairly straightforwardly until lap 15, when the race leader triggered the first round of pit stops at the front, rejoining comfortably ahead. Norris, however, lost out to the Mercedes driver, who moved back into second and set off in pursuit of the Australian.

On lap 18, Norris - with the clear pace advantage of the MCL40 over the rest of the field - swept back past Russell to restore McLaren’s one-two, while Lewis Hamilton obeyed team orders and let his teammate through in a bid to chase down the podium.

Leclerc tried to close in on Russell but without success, while Max Verstappen - who had been largely anonymous up to that point - came alive in the closing stages, piling the pressure on the Monegasque and passing him with three laps to go.

The chequered flag fell on lap 56, with Piastri sealing his first win of the season ahead of his teammate, while Russell completed the podium.

The real bombshell, however, came well after the race had finished: both Ferraris, which had crossed the line fifth and sixth, were found to have breached the plank wear regulations and were subsequently disqualified, leaving the Maranello outfit heading home with a crushing double zero.

The Chinese Grand Prix is set to deliver plenty of intrigue this weekend, both to see if the competitive order from Australia will hold up and because it hosts the first of the season’s six Sprint events.

As was the case in Melbourne, European viewers will once again have to stay up late to follow the action, although Sprint Qualifying, Saturday’s qualifying session and Sunday’s race are scheduled at slightly friendlier times than last weekend.