F1 United States Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc Disqualified from US GP, Here's Why
As a result of significant skid-block wear, both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were forced to withdraw from the United States Grand Prix. After the 56-lap race at the bumpy Circuit of the Americas, the FIA's Technical Delegate conducted post-race checks and found the infractions.
By Divyam Dubey
Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc received disqualifications from the 2023 United States Grand Prix in Formula 1 due to excessive wear on their car planks. In the closing stages of the race at the Circuit of The Americas, Hamilton used a new Mercedes floor to close the margin to Max Verstappen to just 2.25 seconds. Leclerc, however, was the only driver to complete all 56 laps with a one-stop strategy, and he got caught in the closing laps, causing him to drop from second to sixth. Because of this infraction, the order of the top three finishers has changed, with Norris now sitting in second place and Carlos Sainz certain of a podium showing. Now in fourth place, Sergio Perez has a larger margin of victory over Hamilton for the runner-up spot in the drivers' standings than ever before. Russell moves up to fifth, ahead of Pierre Gasly in sixth and Lance Stroll in seventh.
AlphaTauri had a good day thanks to Yuki Tsunoda finishing in eighth place and earning the bonus point for the fastest lap. The two Williams drivers also contributed to the team's point total; Logan Sargeant scored his first F1 point with a tenth-place finish in his home race, and Alex Albon moved up to ninth.
F1 United States GP: What did FIA Say?
Hamilton finished in second place, although he gave the race winner, Max Verstappen, a fierce battle until the very end. In Austin, Mercedes unveiled the new floor as part of their year-end update package. Leclerc, meanwhile, crossed the finish line just ahead of George Russell's Mercedes in sixth place, having fallen back to that position in the closing laps due to his less-favoured one-stop strategy.
However, both Hamilton and Leclerc have now faced disqualification. An FIA bulletin explained: "During the hearing, the teams admitted that the measurement conducted by the FIA Technical Team was accurate and suggested that the extensive wear on the skid pads might have resulted from the unique combination of the bumpy track and the condensed sprint race schedule, which limited the time available for car setup and inspection before the race."
“The Stewards note that the onus is on the competitor to ensure that the car is in compliance with the regulations at all times during an event. In this particular case, the rear skid in the area defined in the Technical Delegate’s report was outside of the thresholds… which includes a tolerance for wear.
“Therefore, the standard penalty for a breach of the Technical Regulations is imposed.”
Both teams have the right to appeal the verdict.
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F1 United States GP: What did the Drivers and The Team Say?
Hamilton: "Overall, we still didn’t perform optimally today. We had a good pace and I was feeling great in the car. It was tough racing those around me as they were so quick, but we can be happy with many things. I feel positive as we’re moving forward, even if reflecting on it we could have possibly won today. It is of course disappointing to be disqualified post-race but that doesn’t take away from the progress we’ve made this weekend."
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director: "We are of course naturally very disappointed to lose our podium finish. Unfortunately, it is one of the pitfalls of the sprint format where we have a solitary hour of running before parc fermé. Without running at a race fuel load in FP1, combined with a circuit as bumpy as this and the parts of the track where the drivers have to put the car during the Grand Prix, have contributed to the higher than expected wear levels. We will go away and learn from this but also take the positives from our experience as a whole.
While the Mercedes upgrade is undeniably an improvement, Hamilton's disqualification from the US GP severely damaged his chances of overtaking Sergio Perez for second place in the drivers' standings.
