Lewis Hamilton speaks out after getting disqualified from United States GP, claims ‘there were far more illegal cars’
Lewis Hamilton pointed fingers at the FIA as he expressed his disdain over his US GP disqualification
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Lewis Hamilton (via imago)
Lewis Hamilton showed tremendous pace during the US Grand Prix as he crossed the chequered flag behind the unsurprising victor Max Verstappen to finish P2 in the race. Hamilton was vehemently cheered by the American crowd as the Mercedes driver hunted down Verstappen in the closing laps, eventually falling just 2 seconds short of the Dutchman. Disaster struck the Seven-time World Champion long after the race finished as he was disqualified from the GP.
FIA picked out 4 cars from the grid and inspected the plank that runs on the bottom of a Formula 1 car. The inspection tests the aluminum skid marks which are housed on the wooden plank. Hamilton’s car failed the test and thus incurred the British driver disqualification. Charles Leclerc, who finished P6, was also disqualified on the same grounds. Hamilton has now expressed his thoughts on the disqualification as he claims several other drivers to have completed the race with a similar setup.
Lewis Hamilton was quoted by racefans.net].
They only tested a few cars, and 50% of them got disqualified. There are far more driver’s cars that were illegal.
The FIA doesn’t inspect the entire grid’s planks as they claim the test to be spontaneous, being a test that teams cannot anticipate. Thus, only Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, and Max Verstappen’s cars were selected for the test. Hamilton’s claim about only 50% of the 4 cars passing the test stands true. The Mercedes driver later demanded the FIA to tweak the inspections to include all the cars.
Mercedes executive says Lewis Hamilton’s disqualification was the team’s mistake
James Allison, Chief Technical Officer at Mercedes, addressed the disqualification as he mentioned the bumpiness of the Austin track.
We were illegal at the end of the race and clearly we should have had our car set a little bit higher up to give ourselves just a little bit more margin. It’s, of course, a mistake. It’s an understandable sort of mistake in a sprint weekend where it’s so much harder to get that stuff right, especially on a bumpy track.
Allison acknowledged that it was a mistake on the team’s part, stating that they should have set the car slightly higher to allow for more margin. He characterized it as an understandable mistake, particularly during a sprint weekend on a bumpy track.
While there were several positives for the Silver Arrows to take away from the Grand Prix, Hamilton’s disqualification remained a painful setback. The focus now shifts to the upcoming Mexican Grand Prix at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, where the battle between Mercedes and Red Bull will continue to unfold.
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Himanshu Chavan
(232 Articles Published)