US Grand Prix bittersweet for Mercedes as Hamilton disqualification tarnishes progress

Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes team have been told to work hard and remain humble as they close in on a return to their glory days in Formula One.

The former champions suffered a rollercoaster United States Grand Prix on Sunday, coming within three seconds of winning only to be disqualified.

It was by far the best performance of the year for the seven-time champion as he hunted down race winner, and recently-crowned three-time drivers' champion, Max Verstappen over the final few laps as the Dutchman battled against brake and tyre issues.

Four hours after the finish, Hamilton was disqualified for an illegal undertray. Stewards ruled there was excessive wear on the skid plate beneath his Mercedes car.

Performance can be gained by getting the car closer to the ground and the skid plate is supposed to prevent that.

Mercedes told stewards the extra wear was "probably the result of the unique combination of the bumpy track and the [hectic] Sprint race schedule that minimised the time to set up and check the car before the race".

They weren’t the only ones to fall foul of officialdom. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was excluded for the same reason after running home sixth.

“We need to take the positives,” said Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff immediately after the finish. “I hate losing races and the whole team is in pain but this is a circuit we wouldn’t have performed at a few races ago. Now we are going to a few tracks that should make the car happier.”

Among them is Interlagos in Brazil where George Russell picked up Mercedes's only victory last season.

Asked if they could close the gap to Verstappen before the end of the year, Wolff said: “I hope so. The trajectory is right and we have two more weekends to go now so we can be