McLaren pinpoint reason behind rules breach after Lando Norris disqualified at Las Vegas Grand Prix

McLaren have apologised to Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri after both drivers were disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix in a dramatic moment in the 2025 F1 title race.

The Papaya also detailed the reason behind the rules breach after the FIA found excessive skid plank wear on both cars, with the minimum thickness falling below the 9mm threshold.

The verdict ensured Max Verstappen, who won on The Strip, is now within 24 points of Norris, with McLaren outlining what went wrong and launching their own investigation.

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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While Norris admitted he was “frustrated” by the outcome: “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. 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.”

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And Piastri, still joint-second in the standings, underlined the need to “reset” and “refocus”, stating: "Disappointing to come away from this weekend with no points after an unfortunate disqualification due to skid wear.

“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."

1. Lando Norris (McLaren) – 390 points

2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 366 points

3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – 366 points