Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc have both been retrospectively disqualified from the United States Grand Prix.
Formula One confirmed in a post-race statement on Sunday night that a plank wear inspection carried out on both cars by the FIA at the Circuit of the Americas had revealed "irregularities" with the skids that breached technical regulations.
Mercedes argued that such high wear on their skid pads was likely a consequence of the bumpy track in Austin and the lack of time to properly assess the cars before the race after Saturday's sprint, with only one practice session available.
However, stewards said "the onus is on the competitor to ensure that the car is in compliance with the regulations at all times during an event" as they disqualified both drivers.
"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," said Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff.
"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 had driven impressively in the Texas heat to claim second place behind sprint and full race winner Max Verstappen, feeling the benefit of a new floor on his upgraded W14 to push the reigning world champion - who won from sixth on the grid despite suffering from brake problems to his RB19 - hard after leading for a time himself and overtaking fellow Briton Lando Norris late on.
His disqualification means McLaren's Norris now moves up to second, with Leclerc's Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz bumped up to third place.
Leclerc had come home in sixth despite claiming the 21st pole position of his career in dramatic circumstances on Friday when Verstappen's fastest lap was deleted for exceeding track limits, overtaken by Norris off the starting line.
Red Bull's Sergio Perez has now been moved up to fourth, with Mercedes' George Russell fifth ahead of Alpine's Pierre Gasly, Lance Stroll of Aston Martin and AlphaTauri's Yuki Tsunoda.
The Williams duo of Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant were both promoted into the top 10, meanwhile.
It is Williams' first double points finish of 2023, with Sargeant becoming the first US driver to claim an F1 point for some 30 years - and at his home race.
"It’s amazing to score my first point in F1 on home turf after the challenging weekend I’ve had,” the American said after the disqualifications of both Hamilton and Leclerc lifted him from 12th to 10th.
"I’m so proud of this team and myself for the hard work and progress we’ve been making this season."
The F1 roadshow moves onto Brazil in a fortnight's time, before finishing for 2023 with the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix and the season-ending Abu Dhabi race.
Verstappen wrapped up his third consecutive world title in the sprint race in Qatar earlier this month and now leads team-mate Perez by 226 points atop the drivers' standings, with Hamilton third.
Dominant Red Bull won their sixth constructors' title in Japan last month.
