Lewis Hamilton was disqualified from the United States Grand Prix following a technical breach, stripping him of a P2 finish.
Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff are taking their disqualification from the United States Grand Prix on the chin and moving on, accepting responsibility for their error after a technical breach stole a P2 finish from the Mercedes star in Texas.
Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff are taking their disqualification from the United States Grand Prix on the chin and moving on, accepting responsibility for their error after a technical breach stole a P2 finish from the Mercedes star in Texas.
The seven-time world champion closed a seven-second gap down to a two-second one after the final round of pit stops in Austin, passing McLaren driver Lando Norris for second before closing in on eventual race winner Max Verstappen.
Unfortunately for Hamilton, this performance counted for nothing. Both he and Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc were called to the stewards after it was revealed that the team’s floors were not in compliance with the FIA’s technical regulations. The pair were promptly disqualified from the race.
The British star remained upbeat despite the outcome, insisting: “It is of course disappointing to be disqualified post-race but that doesn’t take away from the progress we’ve made this weekend.”
Nevertheless, the Mercedes team had no complaints, with team principal Wolff stating: “Set-up choices on a sprint weekend are always difficult with only an hour of free practice – and even more so at a bumpy circuit like COTA and running a new package.
“Ultimately, none of that matters. There is no room for interpretation in the rules; others got it right where we got it wrong. Take it in stride, learn from it, and come back stronger the following weekend.
This attitude was backed up by trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin, who added: “We are of course naturally very disappointed to lose our podium finish. Unfortunately, it is one of the pitfalls of the sprint format where we have a solitary hour of running before parc fermé.
The circuit’s bumpiness, the absence of a race fuel load in FP1, and the portions of the track where drivers must park their cars during the Grand Prix have all contributed to higher than anticipated wear levels. We will take what we can from this experience overall while also learning from this.
Unfortunately for Hamilton, as the two contend for P2 in the Drivers’ Championship, this disqualification has resulted in a significant points swing in Sergio Perez’s favor. At the Circuit of the Americas, the gap had been narrowed to just 19 points, but it has since widened to a more intimidating total of 61 points.