Debacle for McLaren in the Formula 1 title thriller: Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are disqualified. The team apologizes to its drivers.
The most important thing in brief
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Both McLaren drivers are disqualified after the Formula 1 Las Vegas GP.
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The floorboards of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were too worn out.
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McLaren takes the blame – and suddenly comes under pressure again.
It is a worst-case scenario that occurred for McLaren at the Las Vegas GP of Formula 1: both drivers of the British constructors’ world champion are disqualified. The floor panels on Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri’s two cars were too worn out.
McLaren is not the first team to make this mistake this season: Ferrari star Lewis Hamilton was also disqualified from the Chinese GP due to wear on the floor panel. In 2023 it happened in Austin to both Hamilton (then still Mercedes) and Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari.
The regulations stipulate a minimum thickness of nine millimeters for the floor plate at the end of the race. The FIA measurements in Las Vegas showed a deviation on both cars: Norris was missing 0.12 and 0.07 millimeters, Piastri was 0.04 and 0.26 millimeters missing. There is no leeway in the regulations – disqualification is inevitable.
McLaren apologizes to its drivers
This was also known at McLaren, where they publicly apologized to their drivers after the race. «We apologize to Lando and Oscar for the loss of points today. It is a critical time in their fight for the world title,” said team boss Andrea Stella.
The Italian also provides an explanation for the fiasco: the lack of experience in dry conditions after the changeable weather in Las Vegas. There was “unexpectedly strong porpoising in both vehicles,” says Stella. The FIA judged this to be “extenuating circumstances”, but of course there was no intention.
Formula 1 is looking forward to another title thriller
Regardless of this, the Las Vegas GP is a medium-sized disaster for McLaren: Norris and Piastri each scored zero, while Max Verstappen scored the maximum number of points as the winner. Before the last two races, the Dutchman is suddenly only 24 points behind championship leader Norris.
The Brit is still the clear favorite for the title in Formula 1. Theoretically, Norris could be declared world champion at the upcoming race in Qatar. To do this, he would only have to gain one point on Verstappen and Piastri across the Sprint and Grand Prix.
