Seven-time satellite champion Lewis Hamilton was disqualified from this morning's qualifying league astatine the Brazilian Grand Prix aft a method infringement by Mercedes successful the latest stroke to the British driver's defence of his Formula One title.
The stewards' determination forces Hamilton to commencement past successful Saturday's sprint contention astatine Interlagos successful 20th position.
Mercedes said it would not entreaty the decision.
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On a melodramatic day, Hamilton's rival, Red Bull's Max Verstappen, was fined after the Dutch operator was seen touching the rear helping of the Mercedes car.
The sprint contention volition find the grid for Sunday's main contention successful which Hamilton volition commencement astatine champion successful sixth owed to a abstracted five-place punishment for Mercedes changing the car's motor successful Sao Paulo.
Verstappen leads Hamilton by 19 points successful the standings with 4 races near this season.
Hamilton bushed the Dutchman by much than 0.4 seconds successful qualifying for the sprint race, but organisers said that his Mercedes was nether probe for DRS exceeding the maximum region erstwhile opened. The method infringement typically leads to exclusion from a session. The determination was lone announced aft the signifier session, and earlier the sprint race.
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"It was wide to the stewards that the further deflection was owed to further play either successful the DRS actuator oregon the pivots astatine the end, oregon immoderate operation oregon different responsibility with the mechanism, oregon incorrect assembly of the parts," the determination said. "There is truthful nary question successful the minds of the stewards that the trial nonaccomplishment indicates immoderate intent to transcend the maximum magnitude either by enactment oregon design."
The determination besides says Mercedes argued that the rear helping plan had passed FIA's tests respective times during the play and had ever been approved. Mercedes denied having immoderate intent to breach regulations.
Max Verstappen appears to beryllium inspecting Hamilton’s rear helping aft qualifying
Hamilton's disqualification volition enactment Verstappen successful rod for the 24-lap sprint race, which offers 3 points to the winner. Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas volition determination to 2nd position, portion Red Bull's Sergio Perez volition beryllium third. AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly volition inherit the 4th spot connected the grid.
Earlier, Verstappen was fined $78,000 by stewards aft video taken from the grandstands astatine Interlagos showed him touching the rear helping of rival Hamilton's car.
The Dutchman tin entreaty the determination fixed by the stewards, who said helium did not harm his competitor's car with the touch.
The video recorded by a spectator shows Verstappen seemingly inspecting the rear helping connected the Mercedes successful the Parc Ferme — a unafraid country for cars astatine the track.
"Considering the information that nary nonstop harm was caused successful this case, successful the sentiment of the stewards, and that nary earlier precedent of penalties for this exists – connected the 1 hand; but that it is simply a breach of the regularisation and has imaginable for superior consequences connected the other, the stewards find to instrumentality enactment successful this lawsuit and bid a good of 50,000 euros," the stewards said.
Article 2.5.1 of the FIA sporting codification says that "inside the Parc Ferme, lone the officials assigned whitethorn enter. No operation, checking, tuning oregon repair is allowed unless authorized by the aforesaid officials oregon by the applicable regulations."
Stewards said the footage showed Verstappen's interaction is clear.
"(He takes) his gloves disconnected and puts his close manus astatine the slot-gap of the rear helping of his car. He past moves to (Hamilton's) car 44 and repeats the exercise, touching the rear helping successful 2 places, erstwhile connected either broadside of the DRS actuation device, but connected the bottommost rear broadside of the wing, successful the country of the slot spread and ne'er adjacent the actuator oregon the extremity fixation points," the stewards added.
"There is perfectly nary question of immoderate of the helping elements connected car 44 erstwhile Verstappen touches the backmost of the helping and the stewards are satisfied, from watching each the videos, his assemblage presumption and the video of the wing, that determination was insignificant unit erstwhile Verstappen touched the wing."
Saturday's escaped signifier session, which was not precise competitive, ended with Alpine operator Fernando Alonso clocking the fastest lap, much than 0.8 up of second-placed Verstappen.
The Brazilian GP is the 3rd lawsuit of the play with a qualifying sprint race. The 2 erstwhile sprint races were held astatine Silverstone and Monza.
Red Bull squad main Christian Horner had said helium would beryllium amazed to spot his operator punished for checking Hamilton's car.
"Drivers are precise inquisitive animals sometimes. We've seen it many, galore times," Horner said.
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