Hamilton and Leclerc are Disqualified from US Grand Prix Due to Technical Breach

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were both disqualified after the United States Grand Prix due to breaching the technical regulations. The steward report stated that: “The skids located in the area -825 ≥ XR ≥ – 1025 are found to be not in compliance with Article 3.5.9 e) of the 2023 Formula One Technical Regulations.” Both cars saw excessive bottom skid plate damage due to the rough track limits and rapid elevation changes at Circuit of the Americas.

The teams argued that the track conditions should be considered regarding the situation. However, the stewards responded with the following statement, “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 outlined in Article 3.5.9 e) of the FIA Formula One Technical Regulations, which includes a tolerance for wear.”

The disqualification moved Norris to second place and promoted Carlos Sainz to the podium. Sergio Perez finished P4 improving his championship lead over Lewis Hamilton in the race for second place.

Mac Verstappen once again showed that a P6 start was not a barrier that would prevent him from winning again. Verstappen won the US Grand Prix today for the third time in a row over the last few years. The feat also came in record setting fashion for Verstappen Oracle Red Bull Racing. The win marked Verstappen’s 50th win in Formula 1.

Verstappen had the following words after the race, “It feels incredible to win my 50th Grand Prix here in Austin, I’m very proud of course but I want to keep pushing for more. Starting in P6 today was interesting, I worked my way slowly through to the front. We didn’t have a massive pace advantage today and I was struggling with my brakes. I didn’t have the same feeling in the car as I did yesterday so that made the race much tougher than anticipated. You could see it was very close at the end and there too. We had to rely on the strategy today and the Team did a great job with that.”

Hamilton Charged but Fell Short

Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) didn’t make it easy on Verstappen today at Circuit of the Americas. Early in the race it was a tight between Hamilton, Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris (McLaren). Norris led the race for a few laps early on but after tires started to wear the pace of the McLaren fell off substantially triggering a chain of pit stops. Verstappen was first in to box on lap 17 triggering a flip flop at the top of the grid. Hamilton continued his stent for 3 more laps but saw also started to see a massive drop off in pace and had to pit before he could build up any lasting track position advantage. Hamilton made a late challenge for the lead but Verstappen held his ground and was able to fire up his tires in the closing laps to pull away once again and claim the victory.

Leclerc Not Able to Capitalize on Pole Position

Charles Leclerc was not able to convert his pole position into anything of note. Leclerc finished the race in P6 essentially swapping places with Max Verstappen. Leclerc had the following words about his performance after the race, “It’s fair to say that we didn’t go with the right strategy today. On paper, our numbers said that the one and two-stop strategies were very similar, but in reality, this was not the case. I felt good in the car all weekend and our race pace wasn’t bad, so it’s a shame that we didn’t bring home a better result. We have to use the rest of this season to learn as much as possible and make sure we extract the maximum out of every opportunity in the future.”

**After the race Hamilton and Leclerc were disqualified for a technical breach. Read more here: Hamilton and Norris Disqualified

Behind the Front Runners

Fernando Alonso, Oscar Piastri, and Esteban Ocon all DNF’d during the race with different technical issues preventing them all from continuing. Daniel Ricciardo in his return to Alpha Tauri had a less than stellar return to the grid finishing P15. Ricciardo never really found the pace to be competitive for a points finish. Ricciardo said, “Texas hasn’t been too kind. At the start, we were doing well with our plan, but the problem was once the cars with blue flags came up behind us, we lost too much. We seemed to struggle in traffic and then picked up some damage later on, so after that, we lacked pace.

On the medium compound, we were doing the same lap times as Yuki, but because I was on a one-stop, there was a bit more tire management going on for me. Physically, I feel better today than yesterday, so the Sprint race was a good warmup for the Grand Prix. I got more race mileage, and there’s a lot to learn from this race, so now it’s full attack for Mexico.”

Logan Sargeant Secures His First Formula 1 Point Finish

Logan Sargeant left the US Grand Prix feeling accomplished. Sargeant scored his first points in F1 in front of his home American crowd. The ecstatic Sargeant said, “It’s amazing to score my first point in F1 on home turf after the challenging weekend I’ve had. I’m so proud of this team and myself for the hard work and progress we’ve been making this season. We worked hard overnight to find a direction with the car that was going to be positive, and we found that. We couldn’t change a lot as the car was under Parc Fermé, but we worked on the systems side using the tools on my steering wheel to help move the car in the right direction.

The pace was so much better today, and I was driving really well. I had a great start but was unfortunate to catch the sausage curb in Turn 1 and went into anti-stall which cost me a couple of positions. That changed the race a little bit, but we fought back, and I gave it my all every lap. We made steps in the right direction that we can build on and move forward as we head to Mexico.”

The next race is the Mexico Grand Prix set to take place next weekend at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

Updated Race Results After the Disqualifications

(The following race results have been adjusted to reflect the race disqualifications handed to Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc)

Max Verstappen starting from P1 got to work almost immediately showing no intention of riding out the remainder of the season. With the championship already decided Verstappen has his sights on secured a third win at the United States Grand Prix. Securing pole in the sprint race was a redeeming moment for Verstappen as he missed out on pole position in the Grand Prix due to an error where he exceeded track limits and had his best lap time deleted. That did phase him in the sprint shootout and thus he was was able to utilize track position to take home the sprint win.

After the race Verstappen had the following words regarding whether the result will carry over to the the Grand Prix, “I’m definitely going to try. It’s five cars to pass which is never straightforward. But with the pace I think we had today, hopefully with more fuel in the car tomorrow it will be even better. We will find out tomorrow but for sure this was a very positive day for us and hopefully we show something similar out there tomorrow.

Verstappen Continued on His Strong Performance

“We had a strong day out there today. It was quite tight at the start with Charles but after that we could focus on our own race. The pace of the car was really good, a bit better than we expected, we looked after our tires quite well. Starting in P6 tomorrow will be interesting, we’ll try and stay out of trouble on the first lap and then we’ll take it step by step making our way through the field. Hopefully we can have some fun out there tomorrow.”

Sergio Perez Still not on pace for Podium Sergio Perez finished P5 in the sprint race. with rumors flying about whether he will retire relinquishing his 2024 seat. He said, “I’m just laughing at it,” referring to the retirement rumors. “There’s nothing I can do. I am fully focused on my job. That really sums up my season. A guy said something about me and then all of a sudden, it becomes true. But I have a contract for next year and I have no reason not to complete that contract. I’m going to give my very best to it. I’ve done a commitment. But more than that, it will not be my final contract in F1.”

Hamilton Is Closing in on Second Place fight

Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) finished P2 in the sprint allowing him to further cut into Sergio Perez’s lead in the drivers championship. Perez now only holds a 27 point lead over Hamilton. With more points available in the Grand Prix it is imperative for Perez to finish ahead of Hamilton to prevent anymore ground being lost. The feat will be difficult considering Hamilton will start the grand prix from P3 while Perez will start in the middle of the pack at P9.

Hamilton had the following words about tomorrows race, “Starting ahead of Max tomorrow is helpful. Ultimately, I think he will be breathing down our necks before too long given the pace that he had today. I think that will open up a good fight though between ourselves, the Ferraris and the McLarens. We’re all quite similar in pace this weekend by the looks of it so I hope we get to have a good battle tomorrow. Keeping Max behind would be awesome but if not, we’ll do everything we can to finish on the podium and bring home good points.”

Hamilton’s focus doesn’t appear to be on Perez. Its clear he is competing with the man who bested him this year and that is all he is focused on. Hamilton is just focused on bringing home as many points as he can. In a season where Mercedes thought all was lost, Hamilton ahs been able to salvage a solid result in a year where many discounted him.

Leclerc Will Need to Find Pace in Grand Prix

After securing pole position for the grand prix Leclerc could only muster the pace to finish P3 in the sprint. Leclerc lost a position after starting P2 in the race. After the race he had the following comments, “There was an opportunity at the start so I went for it and tried to overtake Max [Verstappen] in the first corner. I lost a position to Lewis [Hamilton] there, Mercedes were a bit stronger in terms of race pace than we expected and so now we have to work on being a step ahead for the race.

We have quite a lot of data available for analysis, as we ran our two cars on different strategies, which helped us to gain an insight into the behavior of the soft compound. Hopefully this will give us an advantage tomorrow and we will do everything we can to bring home the win.”

The US Grand Prix will start tomorrow at 2:00pm local time.

United States GP Sprint Result (Top 10)

1) Max Verstappen, Red Bull (8 points)
2) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes (7 points)
3) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari (6 points)
4) Lando Norris, McLaren (5 points)
5) Sergio Perez, Red Bull (4 points)
6) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari (3 points)
7) Pierre Gasly, Alpine (2 points)
8) George Russell, Mercedes (1 point)
9) Alex Albon, Williams
10) Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Charles Leclerc claimed pole position at Circuit of the Americas for the US Grand Prix today. Championship winner Max Verstappen originally was on pole but his fastest lap time was deleted for exceeding track limits. The deletion dropped him to P6 on the starting grid. Leclerc’s pole position finish was his third of the year for the Ferrari side.

Lando Norris (McLaren) continues his streak of good form and finished P2 in the session. He will start on the front row with an opportunity to attack early. An eager Lewis Hamilton will start form third as he attempts to cut into the points lead by Sergio Perez for second pace in the championship. Given the last out in Qatar, Perez was able to avoid conceding his championship lead over Hamilton. At the US Grand Prix however, Hamilton will have two more opportunities to score points. With Perez starting from P9; he will have his work cut out for him.

Elsewhere on the Grid

Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) finished P4 in qualifying putting the Ferrari is good points scoring position barring any on track incidents and proper pit spot strategy. As Mercedes looks to solidify their hold on P2 in the constructors championship George Russell’s P5 finish puts him in good points scoring position as long as he can make it out of the scuffle up to turn 1 at COTA. Aston Martin had a horrific qualifying with both cars failing to make it out of Q1.

The Alpha Tauri side saw the return of Daniel Ricciardo. Ricciardo has been healing from a wrist injury he suffered during a crash at the Dutch Grand Prix. Ricciardo finished P15 behind teammate Yuki Tsunoda who will start P11 in Sunday’s race. After the session Ricciardo stated, “It’s good to be back. There was nothing physically holding me back today, so it was about finding the feeling in the car and the setup. It’s hard to predict what we could’ve done with only one hour in the car this morning and then straight into qualifying, but the last lap was already feeling a little poor.

Ricciardo Continued

It’s difficult to only have one session where you have to set the car up for what it is for qualifying. It was a shame because we were fighting a little bit from the start, but as the track started to ramp up, we plateaued a little bit. I feel I could’ve given more, but we have another chance tomorrow, and the wind direction might change, so that can play a role. We’ll try and see what we can discover tonight, to learn from it for tomorrow. I wish I wasn’t starting P15, but it’s nice to be back behind the wheel and result aside, it’s been an enjoyable day.”

The Sprint Shootout begins at 12:30pm local time tomorrow which will set the grid for tomorrow’s US Grand Prix Sprint race later in the afternoon.

The Formula One championship lands in Austin, Texas for the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas. 2023 marks the 11th year the race has been included on the F1 calendar. Last year there was a record 440,000 fans in attendance throughout the weekend.

Here is the weekend Schedule

October 20th

Practice 1 at 12:30 (EST)
Qualifying at 16:00 (EST)

October 21st

Sprint Shootout at 12:30 (EST)
Sprint at 17:00 (EST)

October 22nd

Grand Prix at 14:00 (EST)

With the drivers and constructors championships already decided. Red Bull look to secure second place in the drivers championship with Sergio Perez. Perez has struggled to find his early season form. After being bailed out in the last race with Lewis Hamilton suffering from a DNF after making a late move on his teammate resulting in an early exit from the Qatar grand Prix. Hamilton will be on the heels of Perez this weekend with two opportunities to score championship points.

Fast facts

Circuit Name: Circuit of the Americas (COTA)
Length of Lap: 5.513 km/3.426 miles
Lap Record: Charles Leclerc (2019) with a time of 1:36.169
Weather: Zero percent chance of rain with temperature sin the low 90s.

Fan Concerts on Site

Friday, October 20th: The Killers
Saturday, October 21st: Queen + Adam Lambert
Sunday, October 22nd (post-race): Tiesto

Lewis Hamilton was involved in a turn one incident with Mercedes Teammate George Russell on the opening lap of the race. Hamilton was forced to retire after the incident occurred. However, upon reviewing video footage from the wreck it has been noted that Hamilton will receive a a non-driving reprimand and a €50,000 fine. €25,000 of the fine is suspended for the remainder of the 2023 season pending any further breach of similar nature. Hamilton was confirmed to have walk across a hot track resulting in an unsafe action that could have led to serious injury of incident.

The stewards released the following statement, “After crashing out of the race in Lap 1, the driver of Car 44 abandoned his car in the gravel and ran back to the pits. He thereby crossed the track that was live at this time and reached the inside edge of the track just seconds before Car 63 arrived at high speed after exiting the pits. He then continued to walk alongside the track until finally exiting the track,” the stewards noted.” You can find ed the full FIA Release below.

The stewards decided to take no further action on Hamilton for causing the crash.

Max Verstappen finished the weekend with a third F1 title Championship and a race will in Qatar. Verstappen dominated the race from the beginning breaking Sebastian The race featured an unfamiliar tire allocation requirement due to the excessive degradation risks at Lusail. Due to the safety concerns, an 18 lap limit was placed on all tires for the race. The mandate meant that teams would have to make a minimum of 3 pits stops to make it the full lap distance. Many teams opted for 4 stop strategies given the early safety car on the first lap of the race.

Carlos Did Not Start the Race

Due to a fuel system issue Carlos Sainz did not start the Qatar Grand Prix. Sainz was set to start P12 but the issue was discovered one hour prior to the formation lap. Thus there was not enough time for Ferrari to rectify the issue. The non start is another blow to the Ferrari side as they were beginning to close the gap to Mercedes in the constructors championship. However on the opening lap of the race the Mercedes of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton collided taking Hamilton out of the race and dropping Russell outside of the points.

One man who benefited from this greatly is Sergio Perez. With Lewis Hamilton starting the race 29 points behind Perez a DNF eliminated one more chance to cut into Perez’s lead. Perez finished the race P10 allowing him to recover 1 point he previously lost to Hamilton in the sprint race yesterday. He will maintain a 30 point lead over Hamilton despite being issued another 5 second penalty after the race.

The McLaren’s put together a perfectly crafted double points finish. Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris finishing P2 and P3 behind Verstappen. The final stint by the pair on hard tires brought them to the front of the pack. In fourth was George Russell who salvaged his race after having crashed into Lewis Hamilton on the first lap. Russell held off Leclerc eliminating any points gain from Ferrari on the day with Sainz out of the race.

Logan Sargeant Ends Race Due to Health Concerns

Despite his best efforts track conditions ended the race for Logan Sargeant. He was complaining about vision and heat exhaustion symptoms that created an unsafe driving experience for him. Despite wanting to continue he eventually retired from the race.

Multiple drivers were issue time penalties for exceeding track limits. No other safety cars were deployed after the first lap.

Following Sergio Perez’s damage sustained in the Qatar Grand Prix Sprint in a three car scuffle that took Perez out of the race. During the rebuild the FIA stewards have noted that Red Bill replaced the chassis due to damage sustained in the crash. The issue was that the build progressed beyond the survival cell stage – containing the fuel tank and cockpit – without FIA supervision. Because the FIA stewards weren’t present during replacement the rebuild is being deemed as a separate car which is breach of the sporting regulations. Perez is now required to start the GP from pitlane after exceeding the prescribed number of power unit components by taking a fifth internal combustion engine, turbocharger, MGU-H and MGU-K plus a fourth control electronics package as part of the repairs.

Perez may also face an addition time penalty pending FIA steward review. The Red Bull team began working on the car almost immediately after the car was recovered and brought back to the pitlane. The issue is that the cars are to be made available for FIA inspection. The Specific language state, “[The Car] must be covered and ready for FIA seals to be applied in order to ensure that they remain secure until the following day.” Given the fact that Red Bull started working on the car immediately they were also in direct breach of this regulation.

The FIA stewards summoned Red Bull but the outcome is not yet known. We will report back with any additional sanctions.

Max Verstappen clinched the 2023 F1 Drivers Championship today at Lusail after finished second in the Qatar Sprint Race. Verstappen entered the weekend with very little work to clinch the title. Three points is all that separated him from a third consecutive title. While F1 rookie denied Max another win on the season but the result still awarded him the points he needed. With the drivers championship and constructors champion now wrapped up Red Bull can place their focus on developing next years car and possibly securing P2 in the drivers championship with Sergio Perez.

Perez Taken out in the Qatar Sprint

What seemed like a chance at redemption for Perez quickly turned into a nightmare. Perez was taken out of the race due to a three car incident initiated behind him. There was no where for Perez to go to avoid the crash and unfortunately for the Mexican driver he lost more of his points lead to Lewis Hamilton who finished P5. Perez will start from P13 in the Grand Prix tomorrow and will have a huge uphill battle already losing 4 points to Hamilton. Perez can’t lose his lead entirely to Hamilton this weekend. Even if Perez finishes outside of the Points and Hamilton wins the Qatar Grand Prix with fastest lap. Perez would still be 3 points ahead heading into the next round at Circuit of the Americas in the United States. It is a pivotal moment for Perez to perform and the pressure will be on.

Piastri Wins His First F1 Race

Denying the now Verstappen the win in the Qatar Sprint was a small consolation for F1 rookie Oscar Piastri. Piastri secured his first win in F1 from pole position today at Lusail. In a race plagued with 3 safety cars in just 19 laps Piastri kept his cool on all three restarts and put his head down to pull away at the front. George Russell made an early challenge for the lead but tire degradation saw his pace drop dramatically and Piastri was able to pass him with ease. It was an incredible feat for the McLaren driver. We will see if he can double the magic in the Grand Prix tomorrow.

Full Qatar Sprint Race Results are Below

In surprising fashion Oscar Piastri stunned the grid by topping the table in the sprint shootout. The sprint shootout will set the grid for the sprint race set to take place later today. Piastri claimed pole by setting a 1m24.454 lap beating out his teammate Lando Norris in second by 0.08s. Championship leader Max Verstappen finished in third. The Mercedes who seemingly had found some pace in Qualifying for the main grand prix weren’t able to convert that early success into a double top 5 finish again. However, Russell will start from fourth on the grid which puts him in good points scoring range.

Track Limit Changes Threw a Curve Ball for the Drivers

Track limits were revised at Turns 12 and 13, so the drivers were given a 10-minute “practice familiarization session” prior to the start of the shootout. This extra time proved to be beneficial for Pisatri. Piastri stated the following after the session, “I’m very, very happy. It was a pretty good lap. I saw Lando on the big screen, he made mistake at the last corner, so I don’t know what his lap was looking like, but no, I’m very, very happy. I struggled quite a bit in the first two parts of that qualifying and then got my act together a bit more for the last one.”

Russell’s teammate, 7 time world champion Lewis Hamilton could only find the pace to finish P12 in the shootout. A far cry from his finish in qualifying for the grand prix. Sergio Perez the man feeling pressure in second place in the drivers champion finished P8. Perez’s goal this weekend is to finish in front of Hamilton no matter what. Currently Perez holds a 33 point lead over Hamilton for second place. If he stay ahead that is one less race that Hamilton has to catch up in the points standings. Hamilton struggled with the revised track limits after riding on the curbing multiple times and losing tenths ultimately ruining his lap times.

The sprint race begins later this morning.

Full Qatar Sprint Shootout Results are Below