Hamilton disagrees with Verstappen after 'ridiculous' disqualification

The US Grand Prix had an unusual climax. Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were disqualified after the race. The plank under the floor would have too much wear and therefore not be legal. Asked what that setback had for the update, Hamilton is very clear.

Why Hamilton finds the FIA's rules ridiculous

"There are a lot of people that don't actually have the true understanding of what the effect it was having. This was the first time we had a sprint race there (in America). That was the first time we've had a sprint race there. They only tested a few cars, and 50% of them got disqualified. There are far more drivers' cars that were illegal, and the skid is not a performance element."

"Ultimately, it failed the regulation and that needs to change. I think the sport really had such an amazing weekend and then every time we take steps forward within the sport, something like that really taints it. We've got to do something, hopefully, they'll learn a little bit from the future. If we're having a sprint race, maybe we should be able to change just the skid, for example, or the floor on a Saturday night, so on Sunday, you don't have this ridiculous kind of event afterwards."

In doing so, Hamilton goes completely against Mercedes' previous statements. For example, James Allison, Mercedes' technical director, called it shameful that this had happened to Mercedes. It was a mistake by the team, and it should not have happened. According to Hamilton, however, it had nothing to do with performance.

Did Mercedes gain performane with the lower ride height?

"This year, we generate more downforce at higher ride heights, so we actually go for higher, but there are some where you have low-speed corners where it sometimes does perform better when it's a little bit lower. If you look at our onboard footage and Charles, we have the worst ride, probably, of everyone. Our heads are jumping around quite a lot, that's the rear just jumping up and down. Also, we're riding over a kerb, but others are also doing those things. If you look at, for example, Max, his head's much, much smoother."

"One millimetre was not a performance factor. It wasn't like the floor bowing and giving us extra downforce or anything like that. It was terrible over the kerbs, and if we had raised the car a millimetre or a half a millimetre, it wouldn’t have made a difference, except for we didn't, we would have just failed," concluded the seven-time world champion.

The rest of the paddock, though, generally took a different view to Hamilton. Lando Norris, for instance, did not understand why Hamilton and Leclerc's teammates had not been checked, and Verstappen agreed with Norris. Alexander Albon also wondered aloud why more drivers could not be checked after the race.

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