Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have accepted their “frustrating” double disqualification from the Las Vegas Grand Prix due to skid wear issues on their McLaren F1 car.
In a dramatic twist to the F1 title race, Norris and Piastri were disqualified from the race after finishing second and fourth respectively, giving a huge boost to race winner Max Verstappen.
Following an FIA investigation, Norris and Piastri were punished for an illegal post-race car, with the thickness of the plank, which is underneath the car, below the required 9mm thickness as per the FIA regulations.
The decision means both Norris will head into the penultimate race of the F1 season with a lead of 24 points over both Piastri and Verstappen, who dramatically is still alive in the title fight.
McLaren issued an apology to both Norris and Piastri after the loss of points at a critical stage of the season, and the championship leader said it was “a frustrating end to today”.
“We had to do some managing towards the end of the race and now we know it was due to some issues on our car, which have unfortunately resulted in us being disqualified,” Norris said.
“It’s frustrating to lose so many points. As a team, we’re always pushing to find as much performance as we can, and we clearly didn’t get that balance right today.
“Nothing I can do will change that now, instead full focus switches to Qatar, where we'll aim to go out and deliver the best possible performance in every session.”
Skid wear is monitored so teams don’t run their cars too low to the ground for a performance benefit. The initial report from FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer stated: “The measured thickness was less than 9mm on both cars, which is the minimum thickness required.”
The decision is identical to the disqualification of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc at the Chinese Grand Prix back in March, after falling foul of post-race technical checks. Both Hamilton and Leclerc were disqualified from the 2023 United States Grand Prix, also for damage to the skid block.
“Disappointing to come away from this weekend with no points after an unfortunate disqualification due to skid wear,” Piastri said. “With how close the grid is, we’re always looking at where we can gain performance, and we didn’t get it right this time.
“We now need to reset, refocus and push to get the best points possible in the final two rounds, both tracks that we've been strong at previously."
There are two rounds remaining, with a sprint weekend in Qatar next week before the season-finale in Abu Dhabi. There are 58 points still left to play for.
A statement from McLaren read: “Following the Las Vegas Grand Prix, we were found in breach of Article 3.5.9 of the Technical Regulations, which requires a minimum of 9mm skid thickness. Car 4 was found in breach by a maximum of 0.12mm of the rearmost skid and Car 81 by a maximum of 0.26mm of the rearmost skid.
“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.”
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