McLaren apologise to Norris and Piastri for Las Vegas DSQs

Norris and Piastri were initially classified in second and fifth positions respectively after 50 laps of the Las Vegas Strip Circuit. The Grand Prix was won in dominant fashion by the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, while George Russell claimed the final spot on the podium for Mercedes.

All cars that finished inside the top ten positions were checked for wear on their underfloor planks by Formula 1's governing body, the FIA, and it was found that both MCL39s rearmost skid planks had a thickness below the legal threshold of 0.9 millimetres.

Discussions continued into the Nevada night, but it was finally decided to disqualify both McLaren drivers from the race results. This promoted Russell to second place, while the other Mercedes of Andrea Kimi Antonelli now found himself in third.

This decision has had major consequences for the Drivers' Championship. Norris' lead in the Standings has been cut down to just 24 points ahead of both Verstappen and Piastri, who are level. With two rounds remaining in 2025, the Title fight is still very much alive.

Stella has put out a statement explaining the reason as to why both of his drivers had been disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

He said: "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," stated the McLaren Team Principal.

Stella went on to express his regret to Norris and Piastri, the former of which now has a lot more pressure on his shoulders to perform in the final two Grands Prix.

He continued: "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."

Formula 1 will return for the Qatar Grand Prix, which commences Sunday 30 November at 16:00 GMT (19:00 local time).