Due to the updated results, Sergio Perez climbed to fourth place, and everyone who finished after Leclerc in sixth place was bumped up by two spots. “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 when reacting to the news.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff later admitted that they were at fault, as he said: “Set-up choices on a sprint weekend are always a challenge with just one hour of free practice – 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.”
The disqualification does nothing to impact the World Championship race, with Verstappen already sealing another title. But Hamilton was closing in on second place, and now trails Perez by 19 points.
