Seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton has been disqualified from the United States Grand Prix after his Mercedes failed a plank wear and physical floor inspection after the race on Sunday. Charles Leclerc from the Ferrari team was also disqualified for a similar reason.
During the inspection, it was judged that the plank below Hamilton’s Mercedes and Leclerc’s Ferrari had worn too thin and failed to meet the normal standard.
Details showed that the skids below each of their cars designed to create a minimum ground clearance for Formula 1 cars had worn out to the level that they were no longer up to minimum requirements. Hamilton and Leclerc are set to lose their second and sixth-place spots respectively.
Mercedes Team Principal, Toto Wolff expressed his disappointment in the situation but admitted that it was a mistake on their part which was too costly according to F1 regulations. He also revealed his hopes that the Mercedes Team will learn from the mistake and come back stronger next weekend.
Lewis Hamilton reacted via Mercedes’ post-race press release that it was very discouraging and disappointing to be disqualified after the race but stated that the decision hadn’t taken away the progress made by the team.
Ferrari Sporting Director, Diego Loverno explained that the team decided to lift the car a little due to the bumpy nature of the race tracks as well as to have a level of control against the wind. However, this action wasn’t deemed legal by the Federation.
An official statement from the Federation International Automobile (FIA) confirmed that both Mercedes and Ferrari had already acknowledged that the breach was a result of the bumpy tracks and lack of enough time for final inspection before the race.
The Federation however pointed out that the competitor has to ensure that the car complies with the regulations of Formula 1 everything during an event.
According to reports, both Mercedes and Ferrari have the option of appealing the decision against them but posts from their official social media handles appeared that they have accepted the decision and may not explore the appeal option.
Following the disqualification of Hamilton and Leclerc, Lando Norris of McLaren was promoted to second place just behind Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz took the place of his teammate, Charles Leclerc.
