Scandal in Las Vegas: McLaren Disqualified and Verstappen in the Fight for the Title
An unexpected turn shakes the Las Vegas Grand Prix. McLaren drivers, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, have been disqualified for illegal wear of the underfloor wood of their cars. This technical failure has reignited the competition for the championship, putting Max Verstappen back in the fight. The Formula 1 regulations stipulate that the thickness of the wood under the cars must be at least 9 mm. However, after Saturday night’s race, it was discovered that the McLarens were in violation of this rule. After being summoned by the stewards, McLaren was found guilty of infringing the regulations, resulting in their disqualification. This surprising change in the battle for the 2025 title means that Verstappen, who had secured the victory in the race, now ties in points with Piastri, both with 366, and is 24 points behind Norris, with two races remaining until the end of the season.
The thickness of the bottom wood of the F1 cars is measured at four points. Although the stewards issued identical statements for both cars, the FIA determined that the front right of Norris measured 8.88 mm and the rear right 8.93 mm. The front left of Piastri measured 8.96 mm, the front right 8.74 mm and the rear right 8.90 mm.
To be clear, the thickness of a hair is approximately 0.04 to 0.12 millimeters, which means that McLaren breached the regulations by that margin. The statement said: “The rear skates were measured again in the presence of the stewards and the three McLaren representatives, and those measurements confirmed that the skates did not comply with the regulations. The relevant measurements were even lower than the measurements originally taken by the Technical Delegate.” “Accordingly, the stewards determine that a breach of the Technical Regulations has occurred. The stewards then heard representations regarding the penalty.” The team argued that there were mitigating circumstances, such as the additional and unexpected porpoising in this event, the limited opportunity to test due to the weather on Day 1 and the shorter practice sessions. In addition, the team presented that the degree of the infraction was less than previous infractions of this regulation in 2025. The FIA argued that, unfortunately, there was no provision in the regulations or precedents for any penalty other than the usual penalty (i.e., disqualification). The FIA noted that it firmly maintained the opinion that the infringement was unintentional and that there was no deliberate attempt to circumvent the regulations. The stewards also took note of the various decisions of the FIA International Court of Appeal that limit the ability to avoid disqualification for technical infringements. Despite the team’s presentation that there was potentially accidental damage that may have caused the floor to move, which could have caused additional wear, the stewards do not consider this to be sufficient to mitigate the penalty. The stewards determine that Article 3.5.9 of the Formula One FIA Technical Regulations has been infringed and, therefore, it is necessary to apply the standard penalty of disqualification for such an infringement. McLaren team principal Andrea Stella addressed the disastrous result in a statement: “During the race, both cars experienced unexpected and high levels of porpoising not seen in the practice sessions, which led to excessive ground contact. We are investigating the reasons for this car behavior, including the effect of accidental damage suffered by both cars, which we found after the race and which caused an increase in ground movement. Added: “We apologize to Lando and Oscar for the loss of points today, at a critical moment in their championship campaigns after two strong performances from them throughout the weekend. As a team, we also apologize to our partners and fans, whose support means a lot.” “While this result is extremely disappointing, we remain fully focused on the last two races of the season.” Meanwhile, Norris said in a statement that it was a “frustrating end” to the day. “We had to make some adjustments towards the end of the race and now we know that it was due to some issues on our car, which unfortunately have resulted in us being disqualified. It’s frustrating to lose so many points. As a team, we are always striving to find as much performance as possible, and we clearly didn’t achieve that balance today. There’s nothing I can do to change that now, instead, the focus is entirely on Qatar, where our goal will be to go out and deliver the best possible performance in every session.” Piastri expressed similar disappointment, adding: “With how tight the grid is, we are always looking for where we can gain performance, and this time we didn’t do well. Now we need to reset, refocus and strive to get the best possible points in the last two rounds, on both tracks where we have been strong before.” There are 33 points at stake in the Qatar Grand Prix, which means that Piastri and Verstappen could leave the penultimate round leading the championship. The F1 season concludes with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on December 7th.
