Hamilton and Leclerc referred to F1 stewards for potential plank guidelines breach

In arguably Mercedes’ best exhibiting of the season, Hamilton enjoyed stellar race pace throughout the remaining stint to shut to inside 2.25 seconds of eventual winner Max Verstappen.

Leclerc, in the meantime, suffered on account of Ferrari’s resolution to try a one-stop technique to go away him susceptible within the closing levels as he dropped to sixth place.

However each drivers have now been referred to the FIA stewards after their vehicles have been discovered to fail compliance checks governing the skid blocks.

The 2 drivers are probably in breach of Article 3.5.9 e) of the 2023 System 1 technical rules.

This part reads: “The thickness of the plank meeting measured regular to the decrease floor have to be 10mm [plus or minus] 0.2mm and have to be uniform when new.

“A minimal thickness of 9mm shall be accepted as a result of put on, and conformity to this provision shall be checked on the peripheries of the designated holes.”

Because of the Austin, Texas spherical operating to a dash race format, parc ferme rules set in after the one one-hour apply session early on Friday afternoon. That leaves groups restricted with the set-up revisions they’ll make.

For instance, forward of the Azerbaijan GP earlier this season, which additionally ran to dash guidelines, Alpine opted for a pit lane begin for Esteban Ocon in order that it might brake parc ferme and tweak the suspension settings to protect the plank.

This weekend, drivers have famous that the Circuit of The Americas is markedly bumpier than earlier visits, with the vehicles upset by means of the Flip 1 apex.

Verstappen referred to the monitor as being like a ‘rally stage’ and now not as much as F1 requirements.

The course has been resurfaced at Flip 12 and from Flip 14 to 16 in an try to alleviate the issue, which left Aston Martin efficiency director Tom McCullough to liken the completely different Tarmacs to being a “patchwork quilt”.