Brazilian Grand Prix: Hamilton excluded from qualifying before sprint.
Lewis Hamilton will start the speed qualifying race at the Brazilian Grand Prix on Saturday night from the back of the field after his qualifying time has been excluded.
The Briton had set the fastest time and should start the sprint first, but will now start at the end of the grid, while rival Max Verstappen is in pole position to shake Hamilton’s hopes for the title.
Mercedes driver Hamilton was cited before commissioners for a technical infraction during qualifying regarding his car’s DRS.
The rear wing of his car was removed and inspected overnight, and the FIA technical delegate, Jo Bauer, found the vehicle to be out of compliance.
As a result, Hamilton will not be able to participate in qualifying results, which means that he will start from the end of the grid or possibly from the pit lane, AutoSport reports.
The result of Saturday night’s sprint race determines the starting order for Sunday’s main race, in which Hamilton already faces a five-place penalty due to Mercedes’ decision to use a new engine.
To justify the decision, a statement from the stewards states:
“If DRS is activated, which raises the upper wing element to a flatter position, the gap should be between 10mm and 85mm. The maximum gap is measured according to TD / 011-19 by pressing an 85 mm gauge against the gap with a maximum load of 10 N (ten newtons). If the indicator passes, the car failed the test.
“In this case, the runway would not go through the inside of the wing, but through the outside of the wing. This test was repeated four times with two different measuring devices, once in the presence of the stewards and representatives of the competitor. ”
Mercedes chief designer John Owen said the error could be due to “incorrect parts assembly” or a combination of errors with the DRS actuator or rotary joints.
Furthermore, Verstappen was also fined € 50,000 for touching Hamilton’s car in Parc Fermé, a violation of post-qualifying rules.
You won’t be worried about that as your title rival has a massive battle for points in the championship race this weekend, with only three more races to go to reach Sao Paulo.
Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas will start second in the 100km of the constructors’ championship.