Lewis Hamilton is learning exactly what Ferrari fans expect of him after being disqualified from the Chinese Grand Prix

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Lewis Hamilton hasn’t had the easiest start to his Ferrari career with the Chinese Grand Prix demonstrating the highs and lows of Formula 1 racing.

The start of the Chinese Grand Prix race weekend couldn’t have gone better for Lewis Hamilton.

He took his first pole position as a Ferrari driver for the Sprint Race in Shanghai and led from start to finish to win his first event for the Scuderia.

Hamilton’s Sprint Race win was described as pretty special by one of his rivals but that’s where his race weekend peaked.

The 40-year-old could only qualify on the third row for Sunday’s race alongside teammate Charles Leclerc.

Leclerc struggled to deal with Hamilton up until the Grand Prix when even though he had a damaged front wing from hitting the British driver on the opening lap, he was the faster of the two Ferrari stars.

Hamilton allowed Leclerc to pass him when he realised the 27-year-old was faster than him, but eventually, the pair ended up finishing P5 and P6.

However, Ferrari saw both of their drivers disqualified in China for different reasons but Hamilton would have seen exactly what was expected of him when he saw how the team’s fans reacted to their disappointing end to the weekend.

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Ferrari release statement after Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc’s disqualification at the Chinese Grand Prix

Ferrari released a statement after it was confirmed that Leclerc’s car was underweight by 1kg and the plank on Hamilton’s car had worn excessively, leaving Ferrari with no choice but to accept the steward’s decision.

A statement from the team read: “Following the FIA post-race scrutineering both our cars were found not to conform to the regulations for different reasons.

“Car 16 [Leclerc] was found to be underweight by 1 kg and car 44’s [Hamilton’s] rearward skid wear was found to be 0.5mm below the limit.

“Charles was on a one-stop strategy today and this meant his tyre wear was very high, causing the car to be underweight.

“With regard to Lewis’ skid wear, we misjudged the consumption by a small margin.

“There was no intention to gain any advantage. We will learn from what happened today and make sure we don’t make the same mistakes again.

“Clearly it’s not the way we wanted to end our Chinese GP weekend, neither for ourselves nor for our fans whose support for us is unwavering.”

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Lewis Hamilton learns how high Ferrari’s fans’ standards are after disqualification

Ferrari’s fans on X weren’t happy after reading the team’s statements and gave Hamilton a taste of the level of perfection required by everyone in the team.

One fan said: ‘We will always be by your side, but it is time for you to reciprocate the support with results. It is time to show that we can be proud of you, but also to understand the weight of wearing the Scuderia Ferrari uniform. It is the same for everyone.’

Another fan replied called the disqualifications, ‘Embarrassing’, while another comment suggested that the ‘season opener’ was coming in Japan, writing off the first two races completely despite Hamilton’s win in the Sprint Race.

‘Team management so far has been poor at best,’ another message read, while one fan added, ‘Very disappointing. This shouldn’t be happening, but the most important thing is to learn from it and prevent any repeat. Onto the next one!’

One fan suggested, ‘This was the most disappointing weekend in a while. Can only hope for a better weekend in Suzuka.’

The emphasis on Ferrari to step up was epitomised by one comment which read, ‘Ferrari better step it up and cross those T’s and dot those I’s. You have 2 fantastic drivers now.’

Hamilton hasn’t been perfect on the track but took an impressive step forward between Melbourne and Shanghai.

If he continues at that trajectory then he’ll have a very good chance of beating Leclerc in the drivers’ championship even if the title might be slightly out of reach.