Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc disqualified from the US Grand Prix
The plank underneath Hamilton's Mercedes was found to have worn too thin during the Grand Prix.
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Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc (Via Eric Alonso)
Formula One fans owing allegiance to legend Lewis Hamilton suffered a heart attack of sorts when the Briton was given a DQ (disqualified status) along with Charles Leclerc after inspection at the US Grand Prix on Sunday.
It being a high profile race in Austin, Texas, Mercedes fans were more than happy their aging star Lewis, or Ham, in short, had finished second. However, the euphoria was short-lived as the scrutiny team smelled a rat and ripped apart the car. That is a usual practice in F1, where nothing like a tiny bolt or screw (no exaggeration) not conforming to usual specs gets hauled up.
What Hamilton is guilty of, in a layman sense, is his Mercedes F1 beast failed a “physical floor and plank wear inspection” after the race on Sunday. It was surprising that Ferrari’s Leclerc was also guilty of the same offense.
How did this happen can be a good question? The job of men who watch the race live from the comforts of the drawing rooms and the men who watch the race with prying eyes in the F1 business is very different. There would have been a definite trend picked up, which was taken to the cleaners by the scrutiny guys noticing ground clearance.
As Sky Sports said on its website:
The skids on the bottom of each of their cars which are designed to impose a minimum ground clearance for F1 cars had worn away to the point that they were no longer within Formula One regulations.
This is a clear interpretation of what was “designed” by the Mercedes and Ferrari engineers to give the drivers an illegitimate advantage in the race. Nothing gets hidden in F1 races, where multiple cameras at various places and angles notice every nanosecond of events panning out.
Hamilton most likely will be hauled over the coals in the coming days
Anyone discerning would have been surprised with the improvement of Max in the race. However, the cat was let out of the bag after a few hours when it was all Damn It!
In F1, almost 80 percent of the aerodynamic performance of a car at high speeds is attributed to the floor. People who have followed the sport for decades will take on how down-force is one of the biggest factors. Equally important is the floor specs, which have now been caught. It was a regulation check for sure could be the general impression of Mercedes and Ferrari fans, but any use of non-legit stuff is tantamount to cheating.
As it were, the F1 season has become so one-sided with Max Verstappen sealing multiple World Championships for a third year in a row. This has put so much pressure on the other teams and drivers. Hamilton has been a crybaby, well chronicled.
For those uninitiated, the skid block was introduced after the infamous Imola incident in 1994, where Ayrton Senna lost his life. This is not the first time someone has been guilty of such an issue. In the Belgian Grand Prix, Michael Schumacher was also in trouble for an excessively worn plank. Since then, the sport has come a long way, though “cheating” can never be accepted.
Hamilton may not be big news, since he has been recalcitrant in his life, but Leclerc is NOT the fall guy.
In case you missed it:
- Helmut Marko blames Sergio Perez’s lack of self-confidence for his failure to capture podium every weekend
- Oscar Piastri claims McLaren is the second-fastest car on the grid behind Red Bull
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S Kannan
(382 Articles Published)