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."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Pavlo, 25/10/2023 6:27

"Note that only 4 (!) cars were checked for plank: VER, NOR, HAM and LEC. So teammates may have had the same issue, just not checked.
For people understanding statistics, random samples work on “same conditions”, if they always had 0 issues and on “extraordinary bumpy track” they got 50%, it indicates that many other cars should statistically have the issue. But of course no one is interested to check."

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2. Posted by Editor, 24/10/2023 15:23

"@ BrightonCorgi

Hamilton 128 / Russell 130

Leclerc 135 / Sainz 131"

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3. Posted by BrightonCorgi, 24/10/2023 13:07

"Be curious on total weekend lap counts for both drivers vs their teammates."

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4. Posted by Chester, 24/10/2023 12:15

"Even if the plank had to endure 19 laps of sprint and 56 laps of race, wouldn't a high schooler realize that the plank would receive additional wear- and compensate for it?

This "unfair" stuff does not wash with me. "

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5. Posted by kenji, 24/10/2023 4:09

"Would be interesting to know if the Sainz and Russell cars were set up with the same reduced ride height? Some people are blaming the overall effect on the Sprint, but how can that be? The rules of racing for sprints are the same for all competitors. These ten teams employ some of the smartest and intelligent engineers in the motor racing world yet some have fallen foul of the rules. To blame it on anything else except 'intent' is naive IMO. Of the four cars tested only two were in breach....."

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6. Posted by Rock Doc, 24/10/2023 1:32

"One thing that I haven’t seen is whether they were allowed to change the plank in parc ferme conditions. I’m under the impression NO but willing to be corrected.

If not then this really doesn’t seem fair. Effectively they have had to run longer than usual for the same restriction. And in effect a slight increase in wear rate seems to have caught them out.

Rules are rules so they got the penalty, but I wonder if the Sprint races is adding another wrinkle in the ways the teams run the weekend. The close parc ferme conditions is very problematic. The Astin Martin’s took the pain at the start but made steady progress in the race. They took a gamble to get the settings right. The teams have little enough practice time as it is. Virtually forcing them to use the cars they take off the truck is absurd.

"

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7. Posted by kenji, 23/10/2023 23:33

"Wolff proclaims that 'we'll take it on the chin'! How else are you going to take it? Mercedes gambled by going for more downforce and were found out. As they say, 'a slam dunk'. On board sensors would've indicated the exact levels during the race....desperate stuff going on here. Looking more and more like another year without a win for the Black Arrows."

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8. Posted by Defiant, 23/10/2023 19:10

"I agree with Chester. They risked it and got caught.

@Endre, I do remember the Benetton/Schumacher era well. They were definitely doing things that were not allowed at the time. However I'm of the opinion that F1 should be the pinnacle of automotive racing technology, that should include active suspension. Unfortunately they are hell bent on slowing things down and narrowing more down the freedom of innovation."

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9. Posted by Chester, 23/10/2023 14:10

"COTA has been bumpy for a few years now. Mercedes knew that. In 2021 Mercedes topped the practices until qualification when it came out they increased the ride height and subsequently Verstappen too pole that year.

Toto is right to accept the DQ. They gambled and lost. That is life.

But I fully agree with@ Chris Roper. This Sprint Race farce is the root cause."

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10. Posted by Endre, 23/10/2023 12:33

"@Defiant This rule actually has a good purpose, it was introduced to eliminate tricks with ride height (remember Benetton/Schumacher?).

@Spindoctor lower ride height has obvious performance benefits, this has been discussed ad nauseam specially in the past two years. Is it just a coincidence that both Hamilton and Leclerc were significantly faster then their teammates? Leclerc had a bad race, but that was the result of strategy, not pace."

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11. Posted by Spindoctor, 23/10/2023 9:18

"Another rule needed to mitigate the effects of other rules, but Toto admitted fault. Hamilton must be pretty annoyed as I doubt the rule - breaking added any performance to his car & he's lost points to competing drivers. "

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12. Posted by Chris Roper, 23/10/2023 8:04

"It is fine blaming the teams but what about the organizers?

All of the time that used to be spent on setup and pre race inspection is now taken up by the sprint race.

If the sprint race has to be retained then make Friday a Sprint race, and treat it as a separate event, then hold F1 on the Saturday and Sunday.

That way the teams get back the ability to make changes rather than having to spending the entire weekend in Parc fermé conditions after a one hour practice window.

The Current format is just serving to dilute the importance of the F1 Main race and adding nothing to the sport apart from increased profit for FoM."

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13. Posted by Defiant, 23/10/2023 3:37

"This is just another rule that was dumb in the 90s and it aint got any better. Having said that, that is the penalty for breaking the dumb rule so sorry boys, that's what happens.

The other problem is, that it just makes F1 look dumber and dumber every time they amend results in retrospect."

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14. Posted by kenji, 23/10/2023 2:38

"Can't help feeling that if this had been a Red Bull/Verstappen car that there would be outcries of cheating reverbrating from the rafters!!!"

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15. Posted by Ricardo_sanchez, 23/10/2023 1:16

"Mercedes seems to have closed the wrong gap. "

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Hamilton and Leclerc disqualified

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