After finishing second in the United States Grand Prix on Sunday, Lewis Hamilton was later disqualified by the FIA for driving an illegal car, according to a spot-check review.
Lewis Hamilton, who was disqualified from the US Grand Prix on Sunday, thinks more cars ought to be inspected after competitions.
The seven-time world champion placed second in the previous race, putting on one of Mercedes’ best performances since the Constructors’ Championship victory in 2021. However, Hamilton was disqualified and had to return his runners-up trophy.
After the race, Hamilton’s car was ruled illegal due to excessive wear on the underfloor skid blocks. The British driver’s race weekend came to a frustrating end after he finished in P2, a difficult position given Red Bull’s dominance.
Hamilton’s car was only reviewed because of a spot check. The Mercedes icon believes all cars should be reviewed after races to ensure the process is equal. He thinks that “far more” cars would’ve been found illegal if all 20 were checked last Sunday.
“What’s crazy is they only test four cars, 50 cent fail,” said Hamilton ahead of this Sunday’s Mexican Grand Prix. “And I’ve had information from many others that were also illegal but they got away with it. That’s messed up.”
“There are numerous other situations similar to this one in which some people have gotten away with doing certain things and some people have been unlucky enough to be tested,” he continued. To ensure that everything is equitable and uniform, a more robust framework is required.”
Charles Leclerc of Ferrari was also disqualified from the race on Sunday due to the same infraction. Lando Norris saw his McLaren examined but was given the all clear. He has since questioned why Carlos Sainz of Ferrari and George Russell of Mercedes were not also looked into.
Norris said: “I would love it if they had checked more cars. It can always bite you. They checked mine first. It’s more (across) teams. It’s unlikely two (cars in one team) are that different. If one car is illegal then there’s a high chance the other car is.”
There isn’t enough time, according to the FIA, to inspect all 20 cars. The body that oversees Formula 1 stated: “The process is in place to guarantee adherence to the rules because the teams are unaware prior to the race of the precise areas of the cars that may be inspected in addition to the routine inspections that are performed on each vehicle every weekend.
“It is impossible to cover every parameter of every car in the limited time available, even with a wide range of checks made. This is especially true of back-to-back race weekends when freight deadlines must also be taken into account.”
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