F1 News

FIA did not randomly pick Hamilton and Leclerc for scrutiny in Austin

'FIA did not randomly pick Hamilton and Leclerc for scrutiny in Austin'

27 October 2023 at 23:13

Four Formula 1 cars were checked after the United States Grand Prix. Of these, only two passed inspection, and so disqualification followed for Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. Sky Sports analysts and former F1 drivers Martin Brundle and Jenson Button give their views on the proceedings.

'Checking Hamilton and Leclerc was not arbitrary'

"There are reasons why they chose those two cars to check because of the data they saw," Brundle said. "Then they checked some others. I can't help but think because the teams take the planks off, they can measure them."

He continued: "We don't know if the rest of the field were illegal or legal. I've asked some of the team members, and, of course, they all say their car is fine. Another team said they weren't sure, which is nonsense because they were on the build-down, all that is checked."

Button added: "The FIA can see which cars are touching more than others. That’s why they picked those two cars. They tested them, and they both failed. They then picked two other cars to make sure their systems were correct. Those two cars passed."