Debate | Hamilton won't even be bothered about his disqualification

F1 News

Debate Lewis Hamilton disqualification United States Grand Prix
23 October 2023 at 19:00
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  • Matt Gretton
  • Editor-in-Chief

It was arguably Lewis Hamilton's greatest chance of winning a Grand Prix since the 2021 Abu Dhabi title decider. He didn't quite have enough pace at the end of the Grand Prix to chase Max Verstappen, and perhaps a different strategy would've been better. Still, none of it would've mattered because later, Hamilton was disqualified from the results.

But has it even bothered Hamilton?

Mercedes arrived at the Circuit of the Americas with upgrades. Hamilton almost immediately said he could feel the rear of the car as more downforce had been applied. Something Hamilton has wanted for a long time. There's an old adage in sport, often used around pre-season in football or rugby. What's more important? The performance or the result? 

That's pretty much the situation that Hamilton and Mercedes find themselves in right now. They're not fighting for the World Championship. Red Bull and Max Verstappen have already claimed those. In F1, it's very rare to have performance but not the result. But this is one of those rare occasions. What mattered more to Hamilton? Surely, it's more pleasing to see positive development in his car ready for the 2024 season than getting 'just' a P2 in the United States Grand Prix. The disqualification hasn't really cost him anything. It wouldn't be a surprise to see Hamilton just shrug his shoulders and congratulate the team for the upgrades. Hamilton said in his first reaction: "that doesn't take away from the progress we've made this weekend."

Of course, the counterbalance is Hamilton lost significant ground on Sergio Perez in the fight for P2 in the World Championship. Coupled with his DNF from the Qatar Grand Prix, Perez now has a 39-point lead. The British driver is probably now relying on a couple of race wins and/or a Perez DNF to overtake him in the championship, given there are just four races and one sprint left. Then the question is, how important is that second place to Hamilton? With seven World Championships in the bag, is there a real difference between P2 and P3? Let us know your thoughts in the poll below and the comments section!