Ex-Ferrari boss 'appalled' after Charles Leclerc broke golden rule

Former president Luca di Montezemolo was 'appalled' by the team's double disqualification at the , according to . Ex-F1 chief Ecclestone caught up with the Italian at a glitzy London party, and he has since spilled the beans on what he thought of the race.

's P5 and 's P6 at the Shanghai International Circuit were both declared null and void after Leclerc came back to parc ferme with an underweight car, and Hamilton returned with excessive plank wear. Ecclestone says that Di Montezemolo, who he recently met at an 80th birthday knees-up for rock legend Eric Clapton, was raging over the result.

"I met former Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo there [at the party]," he told . "And he was appalled by Ferrari's two disqualifications in China. Italy had never experienced such a disgrace since the start of the World Cup!"

Di Montezemolo first began managing the Scuderia in the 1970s and enjoyed great success, winning world titles with Niki Lauda in 1975 and 1977. Ferrari already have a hefty deficit to claw back if they are to collect similar accolades this year.

Ecclestone believes that Leclerc didn't help himself by ignoring one golden rule before returning to the pits underweight. He explained: "There was clearly a lack of a control point to check the cars after qualifying.

"There's been an age-old rule about underweight [cars] for decades. Drive through the dirt after crossing the finish line and pick up as many stones as possible with your tires in the gravel trap."

The mishap has left Ferrari a lowly fifth in the Constructors' Championship, level on points with Williams and a whopping 61 behind runaway leaders McLaren. It has not been the start Hamilton would have dreamed of in his first season at the Italian outfit, even though he managed an impressive win in the Chinese Grand Prix sprint race.

Both Ferrari drivers will be desperate to put things right in Japan this weekend. The team has won the race on seven occasions - a total bettered only by McLaren (nine) - although a scarlet car has not taken the chequered flag first since 2004.

Suzuka has at least been a happy hunting ground for Hamilton, who won the Japanese Grand Prix in four out of five years between 2014 and 2018. Leclerc is yet to get off the mark, while Max Verstappen arrives with the red-hot record in recent years, having won the race three times on the spin.