Hamilton and Leclerc disqualified: Why and what's the wider impact?

United States GP: Mercedes say they will 'learn' from Lewis Hamilton disqualification in Austin Mercedes explain why they believe they were caught out over plank wear; Answering some of the key questions and a look at the wider impact on the F1 points standings after the double disqualification of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc By James Galloway Last Updated: 23/10/23 4:25pm Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Sky Sports' F1 reporter Craig Slater rounds up the best of the action from on and off the track at the United States Grand Prix Sky Sports' F1 reporter Craig Slater rounds up the best of the action from on and off the track at the United States Grand Prix Mercedes say they will "go away and learn from this" after Lewis Hamilton's disqualification due to a technical infringement on his car lost him what had been a stirring second-place finish in the United States Grand Prix. Hamilton and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc were excluded from second and sixth places respectively four hours after the end of Sunday's dramatic race after wear levels on the planks underneath their cars were found to have exceeded limits set out in F1's regulations."We are of course naturally very disappointed to lose our podium finish," said Mercedes' trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Ride onboard as Lewis Hamilton eventually gets past Lando Norris after a brilliant tussle for second at the Circuit of the Americas Ride onboard as Lewis Hamilton eventually gets past Lando Norris after a brilliant tussle for second at the Circuit of the Americas "Unfortunately, it is one of the pitfalls of the sprint format where we have a solitary hour of running before parc ferme."Without running at a race fuel load in FP1, combined with a circuit as bumpy as this and the parts of the track where the drivers have to put the car during the Grand Prix, have contributed to the higher than expected wear levels."We will go away and learn from this but also take the positives from our experience as a whole."Disqualifications Q&A: Answering some of the key questionsSo F1 cars have a plank of wood underneath them? A look at the underside of Charles Leclerc's Ferrari back at the 2021 Monaco GP as it was winched away following a crash Among perhaps the most-Googled questions about F1 cars, yes, they do have a strip of so-called 'wood' on the underside of the chassis.It is a safety measure to regulate ride height and ensure cars do not run too close to the ground.Of course, being F1, it's not exactly any old plank of wood - the material that teams use is actually a rather more complex densified wood laminate.The plank was first mandated on cars in 1994 as part of a number of safety measures introduced mid-way through that season after the tragic events of Imola, when Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger died in accidents, and has remained in the technical regulations since.The regulations state that "the thickness of the plank assembly measured normal to the lower surface must be 10mm ± 0.2mm and must be uniform when new" and that "a minimum thickness of 9mm will be accepted due to wear". It is the latter rule which Mercedes and Ferrari fell foul of.When were Hamilton and Leclerc's cars checked? Jo Bauer, the FIA's long-standing technical delegate The issues with Hamilton and Leclerc's cars came to light during the regular post-race scrutineering of cars in the pit lane in Austin, which is carried out after every race.Conducted by the FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer, the list of checks carried out in conformity with the sport's rulebook ran to four pages in a document issued by the governing body on Sunday night.Some of the array of checks are carried out on all classified finishing cars - such as weight, fuel-flow meters, tyres, and various hybrid power unit limits - while other inspections are carried out on some cars on a random basis from race to race.For instance, on Sunday, three cars (Perez, Norris and Tsunoda) were selected for checks on their respective aerodynamics and bodywork, which all passed.Four cars were inspected for physical floor and plank wear, which is where Mercedes and Ferrari ran into their problems. While two cars, Max Verstappen's Red Bull and Lando Norris' McLaren, were found to be within the accepted limits, the Mercedes and Ferrari were not.The matter was then referred to the stewards and, from there, things were only going one way.Would the plank wear have given any performance advantage? Any lap-time advantage or disadvantage cannot be quantified and, in any case, any such debate is fairly irrelevant in this matter.Whatever potential mitigating circumstances there may be at play in situations such as this where the technical regulations have been breac