McLaren responds to ‘extremely disappointing’ double Las Vegas DSQ

McLaren has issued a statement in response to both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri having been disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Both of the team’s drivers were found to have excessive plank wear after the race on Saturday night, which led to Norris losing second place and Piastri being forced to give up his fourth place finish.

McLaren apologises to drivers for double Las Vegas GP disqualification

Norris had finished second on the road behind Max Verstappen, with the Red Bull driver having taken the lead after the World Championship leader ran deep into the first braking zone at the start.

Piastri had fallen backwards at the start, but made his strategy work in his favour to work his way back to fifth crossing the line, but a five-second penalty for the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli saw him move up another place.

Those results have now been wiped, however, as the FIA found both cars to have fallen below the 9mm skid plank width requirement in its post-race checks.

Norris’ plank was found to be 0.12mm and 0.07mm too thin at its respective measurement points, while Piastri’s plank width fell 0.04mm and 0.26mm below the 9mm requirement.

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After the race, team principal Andrea Stella explained the reasons behind the disqualification, assuring the breach was unintentional on McLaren‘s part, and has apologised to both Norris and Piastri for this “extremely disappointing” development.

He said: “During the race, both cars experienced unexpected, high levels of porpoising not seen in the practice sessions, which led to excessive contact with the ground.

“We are investigating the reasons for this behaviour of the car, including the effect of accidental damage sustained by both cars, which we found after the race, and that led to an increase of movement of the floor.

“As the FIA noted, the breach was unintentional, there was no deliberate attempt to circumvent the regulations, and mitigating circumstances also existed.

“We apologise to Lando and Oscar for the loss of points today, at a critical time in their Championship campaigns after two strong performances from them all weekend. As a team, we also apologise to our partners and fans, whose support means so much.

“While this outcome is extremely disappointing, we remain fully focused on the last two races of the season.”

As a result of this disqualification, Norris’ lead at the top of the Drivers’ standings remains at 24 points, but victory for Verstappen means the Red Bull driver has drawn level on points with Piastri with two races and one Sprint to go this season.

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