LEWIS HAMILTON has been DISQUALIFIED from the US GP – after his car failed a post-race inspection.
Hamilton, who had finished second in his Mercedes behind race-winner Max Verstappen, was kicked out along with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Charles Leclerc (left) and Lewis Hamilton (center) have been kicked out the US GPReuters
Hamilton and Leclerc either side of the winner Max VerstappenSplash News
Both cars were subjected to random checks after the chequered flag and were found to have breached the rules with regards to the thickness of the bottoms of the car.
The skid block, or plank as it is known, is the bottom part of the car that makes contact with the track and causes the sparks.
Hamilton’s Mercedes team were summoned to the FIA stewards in race control at 6pm local time Austin, over two hours after the race had finished.
The three team representatives emerged 15 minutes later before their Ferrari counterparts were summoned.
An hour later, the FIA confirmed the news that both drivers had been disqualified.
A statement said: “The Stewards heard from the team representatives of car 44, the Technical Delegate, the FIA Single Seater Director and the FIA Single Seater Technical Director.
“During the hearing the team acknowledged that the measurement performed by the FIA Technical Team was correct and stated that the high wear on the skid pads was probably a result of the unique combination of the bumpy track and the Sprint race
schedule that minimised the time to set up and check the car before the race.
“The Stewards note that the onus is on the competitor to ensure that the car is in compliance with the regulations at all times during an event.
“In this particular case, the rear skid in the area defined in the Technical Delegate’s report was outside of the thresholds which includes a tolerance for wear.
“Therefore, the standard penalty for a breach of the Technical Regulations is imposed.”
It comes after Hamilton had earlier told reporters how he felt he could have won the US GP had it not been for a bungled strategy call and pitstop.
Hamilton missed out by under two seconds and believes on another day he would have finished ahead of the Dutchman.
Speaking ahead of his disqualification, he said: “Yes, I do think we would have been in position to fight Max and we made life harder for ourselves than it needed to be.
“There were a lot of areas where we could have been better and the positives are we could match them for pace.
“Second is great. To come in this weekend and have real strength, it is a solid second, it feels really positive.
“We have a few races ahead and we don’t know how the car will be, but if we are in position like this, and get the strategy right and the pitstops right, we can be racing for a win.”
Hamilton’s disqualification means that McLaren’s Lando Norris is bumped up to second and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz is placed third.