There is something majorly wrong with the sport if 0.07 difference in thickness is considered performance enhancing and thus cause for a disqualification. It is the same with the weigh-in's. I understand the safety and health implications for drivers as to why their weight needs to be checked but come on, if they sweat too much and it affects the overall weigh-in, they can be disqualified, if too much fuel is used or too much rubber has come off the tires and it affects the weigh-in, they can be disqualified. I have never accepted that all F1 cars needs to be on an equal level. If factory teams can afford the best and build the best then let them.
It is a sport which is ultimately scored to a thousandth of a second, and probably captured to more digits.
The level of precision is high, and it is because it does matter.
Ride heights, tire pressures, weights, wing measurements/angles, etc., are all objective standards, that apply to all competitors equally. No competitor, or team, is under any illusion that they won't be penalized if they don't conform to the rules.
The reason I have never accepted the things F1 does to try and make it a level playing field for all is because no other main stream sport does it. Football (soccer), Basketball, ICE Hockey, NFL football, Baseball, Tennis, they all have their titans of the sport, they buy the best and make the best (bats, footwear, rackets). Was Michael Jordan forced to put on ankle weights to make sure he was on the same level playing field as everyone else? no, did FIFA make Lionel Messi wear ankle weights to make sure he was on the same level playing field as everyone else? no, did tennis do the same to Novak Djokovic? no. Bare in mind though having the best does not always guarantee success. There have been numerous cases around the world where lesser quality shines through. It is something we see in Football (soccer) a lot.
Of all the major racing series, F1 has been the most liberal, and still does most represent a meritocracy. Before the budget cap, it was also more of a budget-orcracy.
The ankle-weight analogy does apply to sports car racing, where weights, power levels, and other parameters are adjusted on a race-by-race basis as part of the BoP process. Even in the more restrictive GT classes.
It is a necessary (evil, to many) due to the disparity in the various types of machinery which gives that sport much of its appeal. Otherwise, a large GT luxury coupe such as a BMW M6 would be at a disadvantage to a more purebred sports car like a Ferrari 458 against which it competed.
However, unlike sports car, F1 has no such mechanisms, no restrictions on developments (though now limited by budgets), or very strict homologation requirements.
Nearly everybody wants sport to be fair. Life is not fair because if it was we would all be rich, we would all have a nice house, a nice paying job, a nice life, but life is not like that. So why should sport. If you have the money to buy the best and make the best they they should be allowed to do so. Is my view an unlikeable view, yes because many people think it is boring seeing the best win all the time, I do not.
Open formulas in racing don't last long. They can become spending wars, which lead to competitive imbalance, which is not entertaining for much of the audience, and discourages participation from entrants, existing as well as potential new entrants. Of all the racing disciplines, top-level sports car racing is most cyclical, repeatedly going through feast-or-famine cycles.
Even during this latest "golden age." VAG and its members are all experiencing financial difficulty, but Porsche's withdrawal from the WEC was made all the more easier a decision due to the poorly implemented competitive adjustments that has clearly given Ferrari an advantage, especially at LM. Porsche ran a perfect race during the last LM, but still couldn't get within reach of the leading Ferrari.
Racing, like other sports, is still sports
entertainment, not pure unfettered competitions, so there must be a balance between the various conflicting factors. It is no doubt difficult to achieve, and every series has its own ideas of what is balanced, and sustainable for its purposes.
Exceeded the wear limits of plank elements, though not frequent, is not an uncommon violation. Porsche was also disqualified for the same violation in IMSA this past season.
However small, of seemingly inconsequential, a few hundredths may seem, every other team on that grid, as well as the one in Vegas, was able to conform. It was McLaren who did not, and therefore rightfully paid a price for cutting it too close.
