Hamilton, who at one stage looked as though he might end his 686-day wait for a Grand Prix win, finished in second place behind reigning Red Bull champion Max Verstappen – and initially held Mercedes’ strategy responsible for him failing to cross the chequered flag first.
But four hours after standing on the podium with Verstappen and McLaren’s Lando Norris, Hamilton was disqualified from the Grand Prix for running an illegal floor.
The plank on the bottom of his Mercedes failed a post-race inspection after wearing away, meaning his car no longer complied to FIA regulations.
Ferrari star Leclerc was also found guilty of the same offence by the FIA and saw his sixth-place finish chalked off hours after the race had ended in Texas.
Lewis Hamilton (right) and Charles Leclerc (left) have together posted a cryptic message on social media after their dramatic disqualification from the United States Grand Prix on Sunday
The image of the pair looking miserable at a press conference in Texas was captioned: ‘Mood’
Hamilton’s car failed a post-race plank inspection and his second-place finish was nullified
The double disqualification bumped Norris up to second on the podium, while Leclerc’s Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz moved to third place.
Hamilton and Leclerc took to social media on Tuesday with a joint post, sharing an image of the pair appearing miserable at a press conference in Austin.
Displaying their bitter disappointment at the disqualification, the stars simply captioned the photograph: ‘Mood’.
Hamilton opened up on the dramatic post-race decision in Mercedes’ press release, saying: ‘It is of course disappointing to be disqualified post-race but that doesn’t take away from the progress we’ve made this weekend.’
Ferrari driver Leclerc was also found guilty of running a low floor in Texas at the weekend
Mercedes principal Toto Wolff admitted his team needed to ‘take the decision on the chin’
Hamilton (front) and Leclerc (back) will look to bounce back in Sunday’s Mexican Grand Prix
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff added: ‘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.’
Hamilton and Leclerc will look to bounce back from the disappointing result at the Mexican Grand Prix this weekend, ahead of the final three races of the season in Brazil, Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi.
