F1 watchers postpone Hamilton’s hearing until Saturday morning in Brazil

Hamilton led Friday’s qualifying session at Interlagos, beating rival Max Verstappen by four tenths at the end of Q3.

But Joe Bauer, technical representative for the FIA, discovered in the post-session checks that the DRS system on the Hamilton’s car was not in compliance with the regulations.

The gap between the wing surfaces when the system is activated should not exceed 85mm as required by the technical regulations of the championship, but it was discovered that the system on a Hamilton exceeded these limits.

This put Hamilton in danger of being disqualified from qualifying, and Mercedes were called to the hearing at 7:15pm local time.

After a long wait, the confirmation came at 10 pm that the decision had not yet been taken, and a spokesperson for the FIA ​​confirmed that the hearing was postponed by the observers “while they wait for more evidence that will not be available until morning.”

This was followed by a memo from the stewards asking Power to “supervise the removal, acquisition and sealing of the rear wing assembly from the Hamilton”.

She added, “In addition, the technical representative will supervise the transportation of the car to night conditions, allowing only the necessary measures to save the car.”

A video clip of the DRS test on Hamilton’s car went viral on social media, with officials checking to see if the flap was opening more than the 85mm gap allowed.

And a video of a fan from the stands shows Max Verstappen touching Hamilton’s rear wing for a while after qualifying.

While waiting, the FIA ​​confirmed that the technical inspection had been completed for the other cars and that no further breach of the law had been discovered.

And in the event that the stewards decide to disqualify Hamilton from qualifying, he will start from the bottom of the standings in the short race on Saturday.