By now, if you’re unaware of the Mercedes and Ferrari’s disqualifications, you are most likely living under a rock. Nevertheless, in brief, at the United States Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were disqualified because of excessive plank wear on their cars. It was the first disqualification of sorts after 20 years with Michael Schumacher handed a DSQ in 1994. Quite a catastrophic weekend for the two constructors fighting for P2 in the championship.

Lewis Hamilton started the US Grand Prix in high spirits. A new floor upgrade, courtesy of James Allison, had made its way to the Mercedes garage. The Briton started out strong, rejuvenating his fans. And he ended strong in P2 behind the world champion. However, all celebrations halted as the Mercedes’ Hamilton and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc were disqualified. Their crime? Breaching F1’s plank rules. Needless to say, this did not go down well with fans.

So why didn’t the outfits appeal to the FIA to let the matters go with a fine? In Toto Wolff’s words, “There’s no wiggle room in the rules. We need to take it on the chin, do the learning, and come back stronger.” The weekend, projected to be the strongest one for Lewis Hamilton, soon crumbled as P2 in the championship slipped out of sight, albeit by a small margin. However, fans noticed a major flaw in the ‘random’ checks dished out by FIA.

“Not the first time”: Fans feel FIA singled out Lewis Hamilton post his disqualification

The governing body did not check all the liveries for the plank wear and in a statement, they said that the checks were random. However, a Twitter user compiled the data for such ‘random’ checks and revealed a perplexing stat point.

The statistics revealed Ferrari and Mercedes were examined a total of 10 times post-race in 2023, which is the total of times that the rest of the grid was put under such scrutiny. One fan highlighted this fact by stating, “Yeah the checks aren’t random. They never are in sport, there are two ways to look at it.”

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Many fans felt that the treatment administered to the Brackley outfit was biased and unfair. “Baffling,” said one user.

While others pointed out that if 50% of all the cars checked have been Ferrari or Mercedes, is the inspection random? “Because if it is true then that is not a very random process, is it?”

When Mercedes dominated the grid for eight years, many criticized how overtly biased FIA seemed towards the British outfit. Have the tables turned now?

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Post the Abu Dhabi controversy in 2021, FIA released that no manipulation and irregular betting had taken place. However, fans continue to believe otherwise. One user commented,“..ruining the sport with manipulation.”

However, many also pointed out that Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen have been checked equally. Because of Mercedes and Ferrari’s porpoising issues, the ‘random’ checks were bound to be more stringent for them.

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Whether the punishment was fair remains the opinion of fans. The Mercedes F1 team, however, has learned their lessons and is looking forward to a strong weekend in Mexico.