McLaren stung by Vegas disqualification

McLaren drivers Lando Norris and our very own Oscar Piastri have copped a stinging disqualification from the Las Vegas Grand Prix after their cars were found to have breached technical regulations.

Post-race scrutineering found the rearmost skid wear on both the McLaren MCL39 machines to be below the mandatory minimum thickness of 9mm. The technical delegates sent the matter to the stewards, who subsequently wiped both cars from the official Formula 1® result. This is a massive blow, especially since Norris had crossed the line P2 and Piastri P4.

As a result, race winner Max Verstappen has gained a massive edge in the 2025 Drivers' Championship. The Red Bull ace is now level with our Aussie battler, Piastri, on 366 points. Norris remains on top of the standings with 390 points, but the gap is shrinking with just two rounds left in the season.

The stewards’ document confirming the disqualifications was clear, stating the skid blocks on both cars were "measured and found to be below the minimum thickness of 9mm specified under Article 3.5.9 of the Technical Regulations."

It continued: "The rear skids were re-measured in the presence of the Stewards and the three McLaren representatives, and those measurements confirmed that the skids did not comply with the regulations. The relevant measurements were even lower than those measured originally by the Technical Delegate."

McLaren did try to argue their case, citing "mitigating circumstances existed in that there was additional and unexpected porpoising at this event, limited opportunity to test due to the weather on Day 1, and shortened practice sessions."

While the stewards didn't buy the argument, they added a note of understanding, acknowledging that "the FIA noted that it strongly held the view that the breach was unintentional and that there was not a deliberate attempt to circumvent the regulations."

It seems skid block dramas are the flavour of the year, with McLaren not the first team to run afoul of the rules. Lewis Hamilton and Nico Hulkenberg were also disqualified from the Chinese and Bahrain Grands Prix respectively for similar technical woes earlier in the season.

With two Grands Prix and one Sprint remaining, there are a maximum of 58 points on offer over the next two weekends to decide who takes home the 2025 title – it’s going right down to the wire!

Norris had an eventful 50-lap race, starting from pole position and aggressively moving over on Verstappen at the start before running wide at Turn 1 and dropping to third.

He managed to claw his way back to P2, only to slow drastically in the final laps after his team told him to "lift and coast" due to a possible fuel concern. A perplexed Norris said post-race (before the disqualification news hit): "I don't know what the issues were. The team just told me there were some problems and they were telling me to back off. So that's something I'll go and speak to them about in a bit."

Our bloke Piastri had his own battles, dropping to P7 on the opening lap after a clash with Liam Lawson into Turn 1. He then crossed the line P5 but was promoted to P4 after Kimi Antonelli was hit with a five-second false start penalty – a result that, sadly, is now null and void.

"I think first lap was eventful to say the least and then a couple of mistakes after that which didn't help," Piastri commented after the race, prior to the stewards’ decision. "The team did a really good job in getting our race back on track with strategy, so that was probably the highlight of the race. Got stuck behind Kimi, got close on one lap and I lost all grip when I tried to get alongside and I couldn't get close enough again. That made life pretty tough but a bit of a feeling of more on the table."