The possible outcomes of Hamilton and Leclerc's Austin F1 DSQ

OPINION: Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were both disqualified from the US Grand Prix for an infraction that had not been penalised in almost 30 years. But there were extenuating factors at play, which both Formula 1 and the FIA could and should learn from moving forward

Explaining why Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were disqualified from the United States Grand Prix to a non-Formula 1 fan makes the entire concept of having a skid block seem almost arcane.

To us dyed-in-the-wool addicts of watching fast cars go around a circuit, it makes perfect sense: there's a hard-and-fast limit of how low the car can go, and something that can be measured so that a) nobody derives an unfair advantage and b) safety remains uncompromised. "Why not just have a sensor or something?" comes the riposte; after all, F1 is both entertainment and a high-tech industry, akin to an Eastenders special set in the Large Hadron Collider (a world where Alfie Muon runs the Queen Vic).

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Author Jake Boxall-Legge

Jake Boxall-Legge Autosport’s Technical Editor. Having studied Automotive Engineering with Motorsport at the University of Hertfordshire, West Country-born Jake's original ambition was to design racing cars. During a year between studies in which he accidentally rekindled a love of writing, he took up a Master's in Motorsport Engineering at Oxford Brookes. Halfway through his master's year, he was offered a place on the Autosport Academy, conducting occasional freelance duties before becoming the press officer for Formula 2 and GP3 in 2018. Autosport offered him a return to the fold later that year to serve as its Technical Editor. His voice appears on a number of videos and podcasts, and can often be found writing about terrible Formula 1 cars in excruciating detail. In his spare time, Jake enjoys baking and blames his failure to make it past the Great British Bake-Off interviews on his tenuous grasp on choux pastry. His dream is to open a brunch cafe - and his willingness to make outrageous puns in inappropriate situations has earned him the contempt of his colleagues.