Formula 1 team Mercedes has accepted the disqualification of Lewis Hamilton from the United States Grand Prix. The seven-time world champion finished second behind Max Verstappen in the race at the Austin circuit, but was subsequently removed from the results by the stewards. The Brit’s Mercedes did not pass the technical inspection, there was too much wear and tear on the ‘floor’ of the car.
“We have to accept this, learn from it and come back stronger next weekend,” Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said of the disqualification. “The setup of a car with upgrades is even more of a challenge during a sprint weekend, because there is only one hour of free practice. In addition, the Circuit of the Americas is a bumpy track. But none of that matters because the stewards were right and we were wrong; there is no wiggle room in the rules.”
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who finished sixth, was disqualified for the same reason as Hamilton. The Italian racing team had no choice but to accept the punishment. “The measurements at the bottom of the car were wrong by a few tenths and the stewards ruled that illegal. The rules do not allow anything other than disqualification,” said technical director Diego Ioverno.
Revised result
By removing Hamilton and Leclerc, Lando Norris (McLaren) moved up to second place in the revised results and Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) was assigned third place. Sergio Pérez, Verstappen’s teammate at Red Bull, climbed to fourth place. He did good business for the World Cup standings, because Hamilton did not score any points. Pérez is second with 240 points, Hamilton third with 201 points.
Logan Sargeant moved up to tenth place, earning his first ever World Cup point. The Williams driver couldn’t believe his luck; he is the first American after Michael Andretti in 1993 to score a point in a Formula 1 grand prix.
Verstappen
Verstappen fought his way to his fiftieth victory in Formula 1 in Austin. He had already secured his third world title in the Qatar Grand Prix two weeks ago.
The post first appeared on www.autovisie.nl