LEWIS HAMILTON says the decision to strip him of second place in last Sunday’s US GP has “tainted” the sport.
The seven-time world champion felt that all the good progress F1 has made to crack the States was partially undone following the confusing ruling hours after the chequered flag in Austin.
Hamilton and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc were disqualified after measurements on the skid blocks under their cars exceeded the maximum wear limit.
The sport’s governing body, the FIA checked only four cars and two failed the test, earning an instant disqualification, much to the confusion of fans across the globe.
Hamilton said: “The sport really had such an amazing weekend, such a great turnout and great race and then everytime we step forward with the sport, something like that really taints it.
“So going forward, we really need to do something and hopefully they will learn in the future.
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“Rather than checking everybody and over 50 per cent of the cars failing – and I would have put all my money on it – maybe we could change the skid or the floor on the Saturday night so you don’t have this ridiculous event afterwards.”
Hamilton claims the skidblocks, used to keep the cars off the ground – and provide the sparks on TV, have little if any performance.
He added: “There are far more drivers’ cars that were illegal and the skid block is not a performance element.
“Of course if you have a flat surface, everyone is going to go as low as possible, it is just that some cars handle the bumps better than others.
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“We have had a very stiff and bumpy car for two years and ultimately it failed the regulation.
“It was just terrible over the kerbs, if we would have raised the car it would have passed the test.”
Hamilton team-mate George Russell added: “We did all of the standard checks after FP1 and the plank looked absolutely fine.
“So there was no reason after the practice session to make any changes, but obviously, we got that very wrong.”
Lando Norris, who was promoted to second place in lieu of Hamilton’s disqualification, felt the FIA should have checked all the cars.
Norris’ McLaren DID pass the same check as Hamilton and Leclerc’s cars, and said: “They should have done [the whole grid]. It can always bite you one day.
“It’s unlikely that two cars are that different. So if one car is illegal, then there is a high chance that the other car is.”
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
