Days After Lewis Hamilton’s Bold $285,000,000 Claim, FIA Minces No Words to Settle the “Floorboard” Debate

If there’s one thing you’d be willing to bet everything you’ve ever earned on, what would it be? Whether or not you know what this is for you, Lewis Hamilton sure knows what he’ll spend all his money on. And it’s a lot of money. Over a career spanning 17 years (and counting), the seven-time champion has garnered a net worth of almost $285 million! And he’s ready to put everything to challenge the FIA after what transpired at the US GP last weekend.

Following a strong weekend through and through for Hamilton, the US GP couldn’t have ended on a worse note for him. After getting a sniff at a 104th race win and having to settle for P2, the FIA disqualified Hamilton for a technical irregularity. As right as the disqualification was, the Brit wasn’t happy about how the FIA handled everything. But now, the governing body has justified its actions.

The FIA let Lewis Hamilton down slowly

Following Ayrton Senna’s untimely demise in 1994, the FIA introduced the concept of skid blocks and planks on the floor of cars. Why? To ensure that cars don’t run too close to the ground, lose all downforce, and bottom out. Considering it’s a safety precaution, the FIA disqualified Hamilton and Charles Leclerc after it found that their planks after the US GP were less than 9mm (the limit) in thickness. Although Hamilton accepted the disqualification, he wasn’t happy about something else.

Of the 20 cars, the FIA checked only 4. Out of the four, two of them were illegal. Seeing that, the FIA should’ve ideally checked more cars. But it didn’t. Coming into the Mexican GP this weekend, Hamilton said he would put all his money—all $285 million—on the fact that over 50% of the cars would’ve failed the plank test if the FIA had tested everyone. While many others shared Hamilton’s concerts, the FIA’s technical director Tim Goss cleared the air. In an interview with Sky, as quoted by Motorsport-total, Goss said, “The review was taking a while and we discovered that [Hamilton and Leclerc] were on the wrong side of the regulations.” [Translated by Google]

“That caused us some concern. We wanted to find out if it was a systematic problem, with the race or the race conditions had to do,” they added. Considering it was a 100% illegal rate until then, the FIA doubled its sample size. “So we decided to pick two more teams and we picked two more cars, which happened to be [Max] Verstappen and [Lando] Norris, to check. After checking these two cars, we found that they were on the right side of the limits and everything was fine.” 

Read More: The FIA Finally Breaks Silence on Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc’s Disqualification

Technically, the FIA did what it had to do. With what Goss said, the FIA was compelled to check more cars after Hamilton and Leclerc failed the test. It did that. But if the FIA checked two more cars, why didn’t it check all 20, as Hamilton suggested?

Checking every car wouldn’t have been “acceptable”

Lando Norris, whose car passed the test, echoed Hamilton’s thoughts. He too felt every car should’ve been checked, even more so because “It’s more the teams, I guess. If one team’s one car… It’s unlikely that the two cars are that different. If one car is illegal then there’s a high chance that the other car is.” As much as that makes sense, Tim Goss explained why that wasn’t feasible.

In the interview with Sky, Goss explained, “It is not enough to stick a ruler or a depth gauge into a hole and measure the thickness of the skid. We even have to dismantle part of the vehicle. The test takes about half an hour.” How is that a problem? “If we had two crews doing that, we would have five hours of work to check all the cars. And then we would report the cars to the commissioners. Maybe the race result will come out six, seven, eight hours after the end of the race. I don’t think that’s acceptable for the sport.”

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Do you think the FIA should’ve checked every car like Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris said?