Hamilton and Leclerc post same cryptic message after disqualification drama

Cal Gaunt
Tuesday 24 October 2023 13:57 - Updated: 20:00

After being disqualified from the United States Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc both shared a cryptic message on their Instagram accounts.

Hamilton lost his second-place finish due to his Mercedes car failing a physical inspection for floor and plank wear after the race.

Similarly, Ferrari's Leclerc was penalised for the same issue, after his sixth-place finish in Austin..

Both their cars' skids had worn away, causing them to fall outside Formula 1 regulations.

Consequently, McLaren's Lando Norris secured the second spot on the podium, with Max Verstappen the winner, and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz taking third place.

Dour mood

In response to the FIA's statement, both seven-time world champion Hamilton and his rival Leclerc shared an Instagram post featuring a picture of them looking glum during a press conference.

The caption for the post was straightforward and read: "Mood."

After the announcement, both Hamilton and Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff spoke out and expressed their disappointment.

"It is of course disappointing to be disqualified post-race but that doesn't take away from the progress we've made this weekend," Hamilton said.

"Set-up choices on a sprint weekend are always a challenge with just one hour of free practice," Wolff added.

"And even more so at a bumpy circuit like COTA and running a new package.

"In the end, all of that doesn't matter; others got it right where we got it wrong and there's no wiggle room in the rules. We need to take it on the chin, do the learning, and come back stronger next weekend."

Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes' engineering director, was similarly dismayed but believed there were positives to take away from Austin.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Lewis Hamilton (@lewishamilton)

"We are, of course, naturally very disappointed to lose our podium finish," he admitted. "Unfortunately, it is one of the pitfalls of the sprint format where we have a solitary hour of running before parc ferme.

"Without running at a race fuel load in FP1, combined with a circuit as bumpy as this and the parts of the track where the drivers have to put the car during the Grand Prix, have contributed to the higher than expected wear levels.

"We will go away and learn from this but also take the positives from our experience as a whole."

READ MORE: Why USGP was Lewis Hamilton's 'Michael Schumacher' moment