Lewis Hamilton disqualification sparks call for rule change from F1 icon - 'No doubt'
F1 icon Martin Brundle wants the rules changed after Lewis Hamilton's disqualification
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Martin Brundle believes F1 rules must be changed in the wake of Lewis Hamilton's disqualification from the US Grand Prix on Sunday.
The Brit had enjoyed one of his best days of the season after finishing behind Max Verstappen.
However, Hamilton was then disqualified after his car failed a physical floor and plank wear inspection by F1 officials.
His car was one of four chosen at random - but his luck was out as FIA supremos took action.
Lewis Hamilton had finished second at the US Grand Prix behind Max Verstappen
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Ferrari star Charles Leclerc was also found guilty of the same offence.
And F1 icon Brundle believes the F1 Sprint format 'must be changed' after both Mercedes and Ferrari were dealt blows.
"There's no doubt that the Sprint format events put the teams under a lot of pressure and overall, we don't get particularly positive feedback from them," he said.
"With just one practice session before the specification and set-up is locked in by Parc Fermé rules, especially at a relatively unknown circuit like Losail in Qatar, or a bumpy circuit such as COTA in Austin, this leaves them underprepared, which is far from ideal with such complex cars.
"And that's assuming the first practice session has representative weather and they don't have any reliability issues or accidents."
He added: "It's too much of a lottery which has far reaching consequences, as we would find out several hours after the Sunday GP.
"Mercedes seemed reluctant to accept that and tried to eke out a longer first stint.
"Ferrari didn't change their minds for Charles Leclerc, and he went from pole position to sixth and that eventual disqualification.
"It was a dismal race day for him."
Speaking after his disqualification, Hamilton was disappointed.
"It is of course disappointing to be disqualified post-race," said the 38-year-old.
"But that doesn't take away from the progress we've made this weekend."
However, he also insisted there were plenty of positives to take from Mercedes' performance on the day.
"It was tough racing those around me as they were so quick, but we can be happy with many things," he added.
"I feel positive as we're moving forward, even if reflecting on it we could have possibly won today."
Max Verstappen won the race in America.
And he was delighted after winning for the 50th time in his career.
“It started already with starting in P6, but I think the whole race, I was struggling a lot with the brakes," the Red Bull star said.
"Around here at quite a few braking points and couldn’t really have the same feeling as yesterday.
"So that definitely made my race a bit tougher out there today but you could see it was very close in the end and also with the backmarkers.
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Lewis Hamilton was happy with his performance at the US Grand Prix despite his qualification
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"The tyres already going, it makes it all a bit more difficult.
“We don’t want to destroy the tyres but like I said before, at the same time I was struggling a lot on the braking, so it took quite a while to at least find a bit of a middle-way.
“That’s of course incredible to win my 50th Grand Prix here.
"Very proud of course and we’ll just keep on trying to push for more.”
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