Double disqualification: Norris and Piastri stripped of Las Vegas results after plank breach
McLaren’s Saturday night in neon turned sour under the scrutineers’ lamps. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have been disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix after both MCL38s failed a post‑race plank inspection, wiping out second and fourth on the road.
The FIA stewards confirmed the measured plank thickness on both cars was below the mandated 9mm minimum. A McLaren representative, along with both drivers, was summoned, but this was the sort of black‑and‑white infringement that leaves little room to argue. The decision was swift: exclusion from the results.
It’s a brutal swing for the title fight and a heavy blow to the Constructors’ picture. McLaren had banked a big haul after a feisty run around the Strip, with Norris initially chasing Max Verstappen before fading late. The Briton’s pace tailed off in the closing laps as he managed what he described as an issue — likely heavy lift-and-coast to protect a marginal fuel target. He still had enough in the tank to satisfy the separate one‑litre fuel sample requirement, but the technical breach that mattered wasn’t about fuel at all.
Instead, it was the plank. The skid block has been catching teams out more often in this ground‑effect era, and when it does, the consequences are usually terminal. Excessive wear is taken as a sign the car’s run too low — yielding performance — and the rule is cold and simple. Earlier this year, a high‑profile contender was also kicked out for a similar infraction, underlining how unforgiving this check can be when ride heights and bumps don’t play nicely.
Las Vegas is no friend to conservative setups. It’s a street track with long straights, big stops and surface changes that coax teams toward aggressive ride heights to claw back lap time. Get the balance wrong, and the plank pays the price. Given the measurable nature of the breach, appeals of this type rarely go anywhere.
On the night, McLaren had executed smartly. Piastri fought through the pack with his usual economy of drama, and Norris — after an early push at Verstappen — settled for managing the gap. The team walked away from the podium thinking they’d kept the championship pressure up. A few hours later, those points vanished.
The fallout is obvious. Norris’ lead in the standings shrinks with only two rounds to go, while Verstappen and Piastri both gain ground in a title race that refuses to settle. For McLaren, the Constructors’ damage is just as painful; a chunk of points disappears at a time when every finish matters.
There’ll be questions about how the car ended up outside the box. Vegas’ unique demands? A setup gamble that stepped over the line as the track evolved? Either way, the margin for error in this championship is razor‑thin, and the stewards don’t grade on a curve.
McLaren will regroup fast — they have to. Two weekends remain, and the fight at the front has tightened again under the Strip’s hard lights. As ever in F1, the stopwatch isn’t the only judge. Sometimes, it’s the caliper. This time, it bit hard.
