Hamilton DQ’ed from Sao Paulo GP qualifying
• History graduate from Reading University
• Joined ESPNF1 in February 2014
SAO PAULO, Brazil — Lewis Hamilton has been disqualified from qualifying for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix for a breach of F1’s technical regulations.
Hamilton beat title rival Max Verstappen to the quickest time in qualifying but will now start Saturday’s sprint race from last.
After Friday’s qualifying session, Hamilton’s car was referred to the stewards for an alleged breach of the regulations around his rear wing.
To be deemed legal, an F1 car’s Drag Reduction System (DRS) overtaking aid cannot open by more than 85 millimeters when operated by the driver.
On Saturday afternoon, the stewards said: “Hamilton’s car could not fulfill the requirement of a maximum 85 millimeter measurement,” referring to the DRS’s maximum opening at either end of the wing.
The decision will have a huge impact on the championship. Hamilton already trails Verstappen by 19 points with four races left.
Hamilton also faces a five-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race after an engine change made by Mercedes ahead of the weekend, meaning he faces the prospect of not scoring points in the sprint race, which only awards points to the top three drivers, and then moving five places back on Sunday’s grid from wherever he finishes on Saturday.
By contrast, Verstappen looks well placed to win both the sprint race and tomorrow’s grand prix, which would move him to the verge of a first career championship.
The Hamilton disqualification concluded a dramatic period of intrigue and speculation which started on Friday evening, as Verstappen had also been asked to visit the stewards on Saturday morning after a fan video emerged of him inspecting and touching the same part of Hamilton’s car that was called into question.
Shortly before confirming Hamilton’s disqualification, Verstappen was fined €50,000 for breaching parc ferme regulations. Crucially, as there had been some speculation Verstappen my have compromised that part of Hamilton’s car by touching it, the stewards said “no direct harm” had been caused by the Red Bull driver doing this.
Notably, the stewards also stated that Mercedes agreed Verstappen’s actions were “unlikely” to have caused the fault, although the team believed it had been an “open question” when the video came to light.
The full verdict in the Hamilton disqualification:
The FIA said in a statement: “The Technical Delegate reported that Car 44 failed the test designed to check the requirements of the last paragraph of Art. 3.6.3 of the 2021 FIA Formula 1 Technical Regulations. The check is described in Technical Directive 011-19.
 Stewards held a hearing on Friday following qualifying with Ron Meadows, the Competitor representative, and Simon Cole, the Chief Engineer, Trackside and from the FIA Jo Bauer, Technical Delegate and Nicholas Tombazis, Single Seater Technical Director. The Stewards then adjourned the hearing to gather more evidence and at 10:30am on Saturday morning held a further hearing that also included John Owen, Chief Designer for the Competitor, who testified by video conference, but did not include Jo Bauer.
 in TD/011-19. The gauges were measured and the Stewards were satisfied that they were the correct dimension. The Competitor therefore argues that their car complied with the regulation in the static position and thus meets the regulation.
“The FIA argues that while not regulatory, the TD, like many others, describes the procedure for the test so that competitors may design cars to meet the regulations. Further, the TD states that the test is designed “to make sure that the rear wing element does not deflect to a larger opening than the permitted value…”. The Stewards take the position that while a TD is not in itself a regulation, TDs are accepted as the method upon which the teams may rely and in this case, the test that was carried out was in conformity with the TD and its legitimate aims.
“The Competitor alleged that the fact that the car passed the test in the center section of the wing is both a mitigating factor and shows that there was no intent to breach the regulation. While the Stewards accept that the latter point may be true, the Stewards believe that which sections failed is not relevant to the fact that the wing did fail the test.
. The Stewards therefore chose to keep the assembly under seal and preserve the evidence of the failure, rather than altering the parts in an inspection which would have involved some handling of the parts and thus some alteration of the evidence.
“The final point of the Competitor regarding the assembly itself is that it is regular practice for the FIA Technical Department to allow teams to fix minor problems that they find with their cars, even during the Parc Fermé conditions of qualifying. Had the Competitor recognized this problem during qualifying they surely would have sought, and the FIA Technical Department confirmed, they would have received permission to fix the parts or tighten bolts if needed.
“The Stewards were sympathetic to this argument and analyzed.
“At the end of the first hearing on Friday, amateur video emerged of driver Max Verstappen touching car 44 in Parc Fermé..
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“Finally, therefore, the Stewards decide that car 44 failed the test indicated in TD/011-19 and is therefore in breach of Art 3.6.3 of the FIA Formula 1 Technical Regulations. The Stewards agree with the Competitor that this is something gone wrong, rather than an intentional act or design but did not find there to be mitigating circumstances. Further, Art 1.3.3 of the International Sporting Code states that “it shall be no defence to claim that no performance advantage was obtained”. Therefore, the Stewards order the usual penalty for technical non-compliance of Disqualification from the qualifying session.
“Competitors are reminded that they have the right to appeal certain decisions of the Stewards, in accordance with Article 15 of the FIA International Sporting Code and Chapter 4 of the FIA Judicial and Disciplinary Rules, within the applicable time limits.”
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