Lando Norris and Oscar Plastri, the two McLaren drivers, were disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix after it was discovered that their vehicles had violated technical regulations.
In Las Vegas, Norris came in second place, with Plastri coming in fourth.
After a technical inspection, it was found that the rearmost skids of both McLaren cars did not meet the required 9mm minimum.
Following this discovery, the situation was transferred over to the stewards
A document was released that describes the condition of the skids:
“measured and found to be below the minimum thickness of 9mm specified under Article 3.5.9 of the Technical Regulations.”
It continues on to state that the skids were re-measured, with stewards and McLaren representatives being present for the inspection.
After the stewards’ dismissal of McLaren’s argument, where they had described the circumstances through which this error had come about, a statement was issued:
“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”.
Losing the Lead
Now that both have been disqualified, Max Verstappen, who came in first place has caught up to Plastri in terms of points.
Verstappen is now only 24 points behind Norris’s 390 points, while also being tied with Plastri at 366 points.
A total of 58 points can still be secured across two Grands Prix and one sprint, which will be held in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
The winner for 2025 will be decided in the next two weeks.
During both the Grand Prix in China and Bahrain, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Hulkenberg were disqualified for issues found in their own skids.
The Circumstances
Leading up to any type of race, modifications are being done constantly in order to maximize output.
The McLaren team reportedly was not able to properly complete their second practice, which stopped them from getting important data.
The information obtained during their last practice was reportedly altered due to rain.
While the race was ongoing, issues began to pop u,p which caused another violation that prompted an additional disqualification.
With this knowledge at hand, Norris was told to change his driving in an attempt to minimize the damage to the skid.