Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc conspiracy debunked with ‘data’ explanation of FIA disqualification
Lewis Hamilton's floor was found to be illegal.
The FIA reportedly recorded high vertical oscillating data in Lewis Hamilton’s and Charles Leclerc’s car which prompted their investigation.
After both drivers were disqualified, there were questions as to why only four drivers had been checked with Max Verstappen’s and Lando Norris’ car found to be legal.
But the FIA have reportedly said their decision to pick those two was due to data they observed during the race.
Data not conspiracy behind Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc disqualification
Hamilton and Leclerc were crossed off the finishers list after their skid block was found to be less than 9mm thick, a violation of the FIA’s rules in regards to how much the plank can scrape along the floor.
With 50% of the four checked cars being disqualified, fans and pundits wondered why the FIA had not checked the others but timing and logistics was given as the reason behind that.
As for why it was Hamilton and Leclerc, there was no grand master plan behind it but instead an observation of the data during the race.
Speaking before FP1, Sky Sports F1 presenter Natalie Pinkham said the FIA had noted the two drivers’ vertical oscillating data which drew their attention to a possible issue. The FIA then checked two other cars for comparison.
Martin Brundle revealed more, saying the team members he spoke to believed their car was fine.
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“There are reasons we understand why they chose those two cars in the beginning to check because of data they’d seen,” he said. “I can’t help but think because the teams take the planks – they’re not made of wood, they’re made of reinforced resin – but take them off and they could impound them, measure them.
“We don’t know if the rest of the field was legal or illegal. I’ve asked some of the team members and of course they will say that their car was fine.
“Another team said they weren’t sure which is nonsense because they will on the build down or that sort of things check but if you’re a kilo underweight or a millimetre too wide with your wings, you get thrown out of the race and that’s why those regulations are there and those two cars were outside the regulations at the end of the grand prix.”
Jenson Button was also on the broadcast and said with this era of ground effect cars, running closer to the ground does give an advantage.
“As you can see with the floor, having the floor connected to the road is exactly what you want to do,” he said. “These are ground effect cars. This is the whole idea of this new aerodynamic package. So that’s why you’re trying to get it close to the ground.
“And yes, the FIA can see which cars are touching more than others and that’s why they’ve, as far as I know, why they’ve picked these two cars to be tested. They’ve tested them, they both failed. So they chose two other cars to make sure that all of their parameters and systems are correct.”
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