23/10/2023
NEWS STORY
Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc have both been disqualified from the United States Grand Prix due to excessive wear to their planks.
The stewards heard from the team representatives of both drivers, the technical delegate, the FIA Single Seater Director and the FIA Single Seater Technical Director.
During the hearings both Ferrari and Mercedes acknowledged that the measurements 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.
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 these particular cases, the rear skid in the area defined in the Technical Delegate’s report was outside of the thresholds outlined in Article 3.5.9 e) of the FIA Formula One Technical Regulations, which includes a tolerance for wear.
Therefore, disqualification, the standard penalty for a breach of the Technical Regulations, was imposed.
The disqualifications mean that both Williams drivers are promoted into the points, Logan Sargeant becoming the first American to score a world championship point since 1993.
"Set-up choices on a sprint weekend are always a challenge with just one hour of free practice," said Toto Wolff in reaction to the disqualification, "and even more so at a bumpy circuit like COTA and running a new package.
"In the end, all of that doesn't matter; others got it right where we got it wrong and there's no wiggle room in the rules. We need to take it on the chin, do the learning, and come back stronger next weekend."