Did Mercedes’ illegal F1 plank wear boost Lewis Hamilton's pace and was it caused by floor upgrade?
Hamilton and Ferrari driver 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Charles Leclerc’s exclusions from the US ༒GP classificaꦐtion for failing a post-race plank wear check sent shockwaves through the paddock and brought an old F1 regulation back into the headlines.
It meant Hamilton lost his podium finish behind race-winner 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Max Verstappen, leaving a bitter bill for Merce♉des 🅺to swallow after the team’s strongest performance of a troubled 2023 campaign.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said his side accepted🍌 the FIA’☂s decision and would “take it on the chin”.
“Set-up choices on a sprint weekend are always a challenge with just one hour of free practice, and even more so at a bumpy circuit like COTꦏA and running a new package,” he said.
“In the end, all of that doesn’t matter. Others got it right where we got it wrong and there’s no wiggle room in the rules. 💛We need to take it on the chin, do the learning, and come back stronger next weekend.”
Hamilton𝔉 finished just over two seconds behind Verstappen at the chequered flag after a charging final stint that saw the seven-time world champion running on an offset strategy to his former title rival.
Mercedes’ competitiveness was enhanced by a floor upgrade introduced in Austin, which, for Hamilton in particular, gave him🉐 renewed confidence in the team’s inconsistent W14 challenger.
"The step we were able to take this weekend has given me a little bit more confidence in the car t📖o throw it into the corners," Hamilton said, prior to being disqualified.
"I really enjoyed drivi♐ng around this track. There are still some of the fundamental issues we are having with the car which won't change until next year. But it was really positive to feel the step 🌠we had taken.
"Maybe it was only 0.1secs upgrade but there was at least a 0.1secs of confidence it gave me. It is quite interesting when you see what happens when yo🌱u do have those; it's like a double🙈 knock-on effect.”
According to the , Mercedes team insiders conceded that their costly plank error would have made “som𒈔e di🦩fference to the car’s performance”, though they stressed it would not have led to any “significant advantage”.
Whether or not their modified floor played a role in influencing their mistake remains to be seen, and Mercedes will n𒅌ow have to wait until next weekend🦂’s Mexico City Grand Prix to get a clearer picture.
But with Ferrari also falling foul of the rules with Leclerc’s car, it is 𓂃perhaps more likely that limited running due to the sprint format and a subsequent lack of set-up time - coupled with COTA’s bumpy track surface - were to blame for ༒Mercedes’ plank wear woes.
What rule did Mercedes and Ferrari break?
Hamilt🌌on and Leclerc were in breach of Article 3.5.9 e) of the 2023 Formula 1 technical regulations, which reads: “The thickness of the pl♓ank assembly measured normal to the lower surface must be 10mm [plus or minus] 0.2mm and must be uniform when new.
“A minimum thℱickness of 9mm will be accepted due to wear, and conformity to this provision will be checked at the peripheries of the designated holes.”
This breach was discovered following random post-race floor checks, with FIA techn💖ical delegate Jo Bauer finding excessive wear on the “skids” on the underside of Ham⛎ilton and Leclerc’s cars.
Checks were also carried out on Verstappen and 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Lando Norris’ cars, but unlike Hamilton and Leclerc, t♉heir cars were found to be fine.
Has this ever happened before?
Yes,🥃 there has been previous precedent for such a breach on a couple of occasions in the past.
Planks,💟 or skid blocks, were added to the bottom👍 of F1 cars from the 1994 German Grand Prix.
The introduction of a 10mm, rectangular shaped wooden plank came in response to the tragic deaths of Roland Ratzenberger and 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Ayrton Senna at Imola earli🌌er in the season as the FIA looked at ways to improve safety in the sport.
168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Michael Schumacher ꦡwas the first driver to be disqualified due to a plank wear violation, with his Benetton excluded fro𓄧m the results of the 1994 Belgian Grand Prix.
168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Jarno Trulli was also i♊nitially disqualified for an excessively worn plank after the 2001 United States Grand Prix, however the Italian was reinstated into fourth place following a successful appeal by the Jordan team.
Hamilton and Leclerc’s plank wear violations were the first in 𝓀over 20 years, highlighting just how rare such breaches are.
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