Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc saw themselves getting disqualified from the Austin Grand Prix after their plank measurement did not comply with the FIA norms. Now, FIA has again come forward to put a radical change in place for the safety of the drivers.
Nicholas Tombazis, the FIA’s head of single-seaters, said as per SpeedCafe, “Are the cars too low? Yes. We would rather have them riding a bit higher, but the inherent characteristic of a ground-effect car is that it tends to have more performance running low. That’s something I don’t think we can easily avoid.”
As Lewis Hamilton was disqualified from the US race, he lost 18 points in the process and it hampered his chance to finish P2 in the Drivers’ Championship. After having been disqualified, he made allegations against the FIA that the checks were not random.
However, the F1 governing body had its own version to say. They said that they targeted four cars for the check as they believed they had more plank wear than any other cars. Apart from Leclerc and Hamilton, the FIA also checked Lando Norris and Max Verstappen’s cars.
FIA is not contemplating to raise the height of the car for the first time
This is not the first time the FIA has tried to have significant changes in the plank for drivers’ safety. They tried to do so during the 2022 F1 season as well. Back then it was done after several drivers complained about excessive porpoising.
However, this time it was to safeguard the drivers who were running very low cars. Therefore, the ride height needed to be adjusted so that they don’t bottom out similar to Lando Norris in Las Vegas. Now, it will be interesting to see if all the teams agree to have the change on their floor.
