Lewis Hamilton has been disqualified from the US Grand Prix after his car failed a post-race inspection, stripping the seven-time world champion of his second place finish.
The controversy came just seven hours after he lost out to Max Verstappen by two seconds.
Both cars were subjected to random stop checks at the flag but Hamilton’s vehicle was declared illegal for having excessive wear on the underfloor skid blocks.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who finished sixth, also suffered the same fate and was barred from his place on the podium.
The skid blocks, which refers to the thickness of the bottom of a car, makes contact with the track and causes sparks.
Hamilton’s disqualification meant that McLaren’s Lando Norris was promoted to second while Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz took third place.
Lewis Hamilton (pictured celebrating his second place) has been disqualified from the US Grand Prix after his car failed a post-race inspection, stripping the seven-time world champion of his second place finish
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc , who finished sixth, also suffered the same fate and was barred from his place on the podium
Hamilton’s disqualification meant that McLaren’s Lando Norris was promoted to second while Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz took third place
Two hours after the race was complete, Hamilton’s Mercedes team were taken to the FIA stewards in Austin.
Three team representatives emerged 15 minutes later before the Ferrari team were called in, the Sun reported.
An hour later it was confirmed 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 raceschedule 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 came after Hamilton declared he would have beaten the Dutch winner had it been a different day.
He told reporters: ‘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.’
The F1 champion added that his team needs to ‘get the strategy right and the pitstops right’ so they ‘can be racing for a win’.
Mercedes have confirmed to Mail Sport that they are not appealing the decision.
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