F1 News: Lewis Hamilton Calls For "Better Structure" - "A Lot Of Cars Were Illegal" In Austin

Lewis Hamilton has opened up about his disqualification after the United States Grand Prix, critiquing the FIA’s testing protocols and calling for changes to ensure fairness and consistency in the sport.

Lewis Hamilton has shared insightful details about the aftermath of the United States Grand Prix, alleging that several Formula 1 cars sported "illegal" planks but escaped testing. Despite clinching a commendable second-place finish at the Circuit of the Americas, Hamilton’s joy was short-lived as both he and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc faced disqualification after their cars failed to comply with the regulations during post-race checks.

Key Takeaways:

• Hamilton has expressed his disappointment at losing his second-place finish due to a plank discrepancy, sharing that he was “devastated” to learn about the disqualification after an otherwise successful race.
• He has raised concerns about the fairness of the FIA's testing protocols, suggesting that other cars with potentially "illegal" planks were not tested, creating an uneven playing field.
• The Mercedes driver has called for a revision of the rules, particularly criticising the limited on-track time and set-up restrictions imposed by the Sprint format, and urged for changes to ensure a fair and consistent testing and compliance environment.

Hamilton recounted the moment he learned about his disqualification, describing how he went from the high of a great race to feeling “devastated” and “a bit deflated.” Nonetheless, he emphasised the importance of taking the positives from the experience and moving forward.

“I had just come out of the press conference. I got back and was about to get into the ice tub when Toto [Wolff] came down and told me.

“Obviously devastated after such a good day and a great race. I didn’t find out fully until I was back home [in Austin]. A bit deflated but still lots of positives to take from it.” [as quoted by

Motorsportweek.com

]

The seven-time world champion did not hold back in his critique of the FIA’s testing protocols. He expressed frustration at the inconsistency in the testing of planks, revealing that “several sources” had informed him of other cars that were potentially non-compliant but weren’t tested. Hamilton called for a “better structure” to ensure fairness and prevent drivers from “getting away with it.”

“Firstly I’ve heard from several different sources that there were a lot of other cars that were also illegal and weren’t tested, so they get away with it.

“I’ve been racing here for 16 years and there’s been times that there’s been many other scenarios like this. Some people have gotten away with some things, and some people have just been unlucky they got tested.

"Ultimately, there needs to be some better structure to make sure it’s fair and even across the board.”

Hamilton also touched upon the challenges posed by the Sprint format, pointing out that the single practice session and the obligation to lock in car setups contributed to the issue. He suggested scrapping these rules, especially considering the unique challenges of the bumpy Circuit of the Americas track.

“We’ve never had that problem in Austin before. It’s just that we had a Sprint race before.

“

An easy fix for that one,[would be to] just approach the weekend differently where the car is not set from Friday morning, especially at the bumpiest track we have been to. That’s really the only reason there’s failures, because it’s so bumpy.

“Some cars have better ride quality than others. If you look at the Ferrari, Charles’ head and my head, we have a pretty bad ride. It’s bumping around quite a lot because the cars are hitting the deck, it’s not because we are generally just pushing the car too low.”

Hamilton continued:

“Last year, our car was best when it was low. So we were low and stiff. Our car works better at high ride heights now.

“It’s not that we were pushing the car too low, it’s just an unfortunate scenario. 0.05 failure on the rear skid is not the main difference between winning or losing. That area wasn’t the reason we were fastest.

“That’s why it’s just a bit painful for us because if we changed our rear springs for example, perhaps we would have had a better ride. But we are hopeful that the performance will continue this weekend. Just need to make sure that the guys don’t overreact but I think we’ll be fine.”