FIA issues statement after backlash over Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc's disqualification in the 2023 F1 US GP

At the 2023 F1 US GP, both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were disqualified from the race. This was because the FIA stewards checked their cars and found excessive wear on the rear area of the underbody plank. Since the wear was more than what is allowed by the regulation, both drivers were disqualified from the final race results.

Since both Hamilton and Leclerc have a massive following, several fans complained to the FIA and protested against the decision. Responding to the fans, the governing body of F1 recently released a statement explaining the procedure through which race stewards check cars after a Grand Prix.

The statement explained how the FIA has a plethora of data during a race to determine what to check in F1 cars. Although most cars passed the inspection, certain rule breaches were reported to the stewards in Austin, which kicked off the inspection process.

A part of the statement read:

"The FIA’s F1 technical team has a wealth of experience, as well as data from a plethora of sources and sensors that help inform decisions on what aspects of compliance might be checked. The vast majority of the time, all cars are found to be compliant. However, as happened in Austin, breaches of the rules are occasionally found and reported to the Stewards, who decide the appropriate action to take."

The FIA also stated how, due to time constraints, not all aspects of every car can be checked. Hence, the cars are chosen on a random basis.

"In conducting these tests, a huge amount of work goes on in the limited time available after a Grand Prix finishes and before the cars need to be returned to their teams for disassembly and transportation to the next race. However, even though a wide array of checks are made, it is impossible to cover every parameter of every car in the short time available – and this is especially true of back-to-back race weekends when freight deadlines must also be considered," it read.

"This is why the process of randomly selecting a number of cars for post-race scrutineering across various aspects of the regulations is so valuable. Each team is aware that selection is possible and understand that the chance of any lack of compliance being uncovered is strong," the statement added.

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Lewis Hamilton is satisfied with the progress despite his disqualification from the 2023 F1 US GP

Even though Lewis Hamilton was disqualified from the 2023 F1 US GP after finishing second in the race, he was still satisfied with how much Mercedes had worked on the car to make it as fast as it was in Austin.

Despite being slightly disappointed with being disqualified, the Brit was happy with the progress.

"It is, of course, disappointing to be disqualified post-race, but that doesn’t take away from the progress we’ve made this weekend," he said (via mercedesamgf1.com).

Lewis Hamilton's pace is gradually coming back as he aims to fight for the world championship once again in 2024.