The Sauber driver, who finished 13th, has been disqualified from the Bahrain GP due to skid wear of the plank!

According to a technical report issued just moments after the race: “Measurements were taken along the stiffness compliant area at three different points of the periphery (inner arc).

“The recorded measurement were 8.4 mm (LHS), 8.5 mm (car centerline) and 8.4 mm (RHS).”

The seven-time world champion, who has struggled in the opening month of his Ferrari career, finished fifth in the race on Sunday – his best finish so far in 2025 other than his sprint win in China.

It was an improved display for Hamilton, who started ninth, with Ferrari showing promise with a different strategy to frontrunners McLaren and Mercedes. However, they were still short of pace compared to race winner Oscar Piastri.

Yet Hamilton still only has 25 points to his name and is already 52 points behind championship leader Lando Norris, heading into race five in Saudi Arabia next week.

“The start was not good, the pace was not good, the balance was not where I wanted it to be. Pit stops went wrong with the lights. I was stuck in traffic. We pitted then and even worse, then I was last.

“Considering everything, to finish P6 was a good result.

“We are bad on tyre management at the moment, on a track like this it all gets highlighted for sure.

On Saudi: “If you’re poor on tyres, you’re poor everywhere. Weaker than our competitors, take that into consideration.”

“I was not at the same level as the cars ahead of me.”

The Mercedes driver will keep second place.

“I think what’s clear, as humans, we get really stuck in our ways.

“I’ve been driving a certain syle and way for a long time with the same team, a new car has new systems. There are new engine brakes. This car requires a different driving style, I’m adjusting to that, slowly getting into that.

“I was a long way away from Charles last weekend and this weekend, all the settings are off. I’ve got to do a better job, I know I can and I will.

“I’ve got to make it easier for myself, doing it the hard way at the moment. Will try next week to start in a better place, I think I’ve figured out how the car likes to drive, if I qualify better I can have a much better weekend.”

“We are just not fast enough, that’s the summary.

“We don’t have that pace in the car, Mercedes were a bit better in degradation. The pace was just not there, it’s very disappointing when you do everything quite well but it’s P4.

“There is no regrets, we need to find some pace.”

Nico Hulkenberg is set to be excluded from the Bahrain Grand Prix results due to excessive skid wear.

He had been classified 13th originally.

“Oscar drove a perfect race, if not a perfect weekend.

“It’s good for the team and our drivers, we’re in a strong position in both championships.”