After a couple of weekends of brilliance, Ferrari witnessed some of the most horrendous events at the USGP involving Charles Leclerc. With the goal of challenging Mercedes, Ferrari set the pace for the weekend by winning pole on Friday. Following that, the team saw Leclerc finish second in qualifying in Saturday’s Sprint, only to earn a disappointing P3. However, the team arrived on Sunday to challenge Verstappen, but that did not materialize, and it turned out to be the worst night possible for Leclerc. He started his race with a car that couldn’t keep up with the best until he was disqualified owing to SF23’s unlawful plank measurement.
And now, after such a poor performance, which cost the team 8 crucial points, Ferrari’s team principal revealed that the team does not want to repeat the same Austin mistakes at the upcoming race in Mexico, according to Formulapassion.com.
Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc disqualified from Formula 1’s 2023 United States Grand Prix
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Leclerc completed the race initially in P6, after starting from the pole, only to lose all eight essential points. Aside from that, Leclerc’s worst night became worse as Ferrari chose a poor starting strategy. During the race, the team adopted a single pit stop strategy, making it difficult for Leclerc to maintain his P6 position against the advancing George Russell. However, with the poor racing tactics harming the team’s ongoing struggle with Mercedes, Frederic Vasseur has now issued a warning.
The Frenchman used harsh and piercing tones to convey his point to his team. Although before that, he commended Carlos Sainz for his on-track shenanigans. He said that Sainz allowed the team to chip away at points in the race for second place in the constructors’ standings. Later, while discussing not making the same mistake in Mexico, Vasseur commented, ” In Mexico, however, I want to see more concentration from the team because we can no longer afford some of the misjudgments we saw in the United States.”
The USGP was a pivotal race for three teams: Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull. However, in the end, it was only Red Bull who got some favorable results, while Ferrari and Mercedes experienced misery—leaving many fans to question what led both of the giants’ teams to violate the technical restrictions.
What were Mercedes and Ferrari’s explanations for their technical breach?
Apart from Charles Leclerc and Ferrari, it was reported that Lewis Hamilton would also lose his P2 position owing to the same cause of over-wearing the plank. Since both teams violated F1’s technical restrictions, which state that the wooden board beneath the car can only be worn by 1mm throughout the race, both the Monegasque and the Mercedes Maestro were forced to give up their hard-earned positions.
Before being disqualified, both the Mercedes and Ferrari executives claimed in a meeting that the “bumps” on the Austin course made it comparatively difficult for their drivers to maneuver their way. Along with that, they made it apparent that because the USGP was a sprint weekend, there was only one practice session of an hour, making it challenging for the team to set up the car before the race.
The expulsions of Mercedes and Ferrari owing to technical breaches in an area where teams are extremely cautious surely adds to the intrigue and makes us wonder how the two top teams messed up in the same race weekend. Nonetheless, with only four races remaining, it will be fascinating to see how both teams make a strong comeback.
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