Lewis Hamilton: Ferrari setup changes made car “even worse” for Chinese GP

Lewis Hamilton has admitted that Ferrari’s setup changes for the F1 Chinese Grand Prix negatively affected the car’s handling.

Hamilton could only finish sixth on track at the Shanghai International Circuit - although it got worse when he was later disqualified for excessive plank wear.

It was a disappointing Sunday for the seven-time world champion, given that he dominated the sprint race from pole position.

Hamilton was forced to let teammate Charles Leclerc by due to a lack of pace before surrendering fifth to Max Verstappen after converting to a two-stop strategy.

The result is in jeopardy, though, with Hamilton - and Leclerc - under investigation for technical infringements.

Speaking after the race, before stewards’ decisions, Hamilton said he was happy to try the two-stop strategy.

However, he lamented the setup tweaks, which didn’t work.

“I am glad we tried something else. I was struggling with performance. Basically, we had a pretty decent car in the sprint and then we made some changes as we tried to improve forward and improve the car, and we made it quite a bit worse basically for qualifying and even worse for the race,” Hamilton said.

“Unfortunate. Very hard to keep up with the cars ahead. Lots to learn. The pit stop is too long here, it’s a lot of seconds to catch up. They were still going fast at the end.

“Max was doing something similar to me and I had much fresher tyres. It wasn’t great.”

Lewis Hamilton: “I will know not to do that again”

Hamilton didn’t shed much light on the specific setup changes.

The 40-year-old did mention something Leclerc tested during Bahrain testing, which both drivers opted for in China.

Hamilton was frank in his assessment that change made the car significantly worse.

“We made some other changes as well as that but not massively, a small amount,” Hamilton added.

“All the pieces together made it quite a bit worse. Charles tested something in Bahrain. I hadn’t tested it but we both went that way and it was bad. I will know not to do that again.”