Breaking: Hamilton And Leclerc Disqualified From United States Grand Prix

Monday, 23 October 2023 at 09:00

Updated at Wednesday, 25 October 2023 at 21:44

Mercedes F1 driver Lewis Hamilton and Scuderia Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc were disqualified for technical breach after the 2023 United States Grand Prix.

Both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were disqualified and put out of points after it was discovered that the floors of their cars didn't meet the regulations.

The wooden plank located on the bottom of the floor of their cars has been sanded too much, more than technical regulations allow.

While everything was fine with other drivers, it is suspected that using the hard curbs on the exits of corners is something that might have caused this problem.

FIA official document details: "The rear skid in the area defined in the Technical Delegate’s report was outside the thresholds outlined in Article 3.5.9 e) of the FIA Formula One Technical Regulations."

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Stewards have first discussed this issue with representatives of both teams, the Technical Delegate, the FIA Single Seater Director, and the FIA Single Seater Technical Director. The document also says about Ferraru:

During the hearing, the team acknowledged that the measurement performed by the FIA Technical Team was correct and stated that the high wear on the skid pads was probably a result of the unique combination of the bumpy track and the Sprint race schedule that minimized the time to set up and check the car before the race.

Stewards considered this; however, it is the team's responsibility to ensure that both their cars meet technical regulations at all times during the weekend, and therefore, a "standard penalty for a breach of the Technical Regulations is imposed."

While we don't yet have reactions from the seven-time world champion and the Monegasque driver, we know Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant will benefit from this situation as they move up into point-scoring positions.

By Hamilton being disqualified, Lando Norris moves up into the second position, and the second Ferrari driver, Carlos Sainz, moves up on the podium as well.