Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri’s Las Vegas GP disqualifications ‘confirmed’ worrying McLaren problem

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McLaren endured their first-ever double disqualification from a single Formula 1 race at the 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix, as Lando Norris lost his P2 and Oscar Piastri lost P4.

Norris and Piastri were found in breach of Article 3.5.9 of F1’s technical regulations after last Sunday’s showdown in Sin City. The skid blocks on each of their cars were found to be below the minimum thickness of 9mm, which required an automatic disqualification from the race.

The right-hand front measurement point on Norris’ skid plank was found to be 8.88mm, and his right-hand rear was 8.93mm after the Las Vegas GP. Piastri’s plank was found in breach at the left-hand front (8.96mm), right-hand front (8.74mm) and right-hand rear (8.90mm).

Now, the 2025 F1 drivers’ championship is a three-man fight with two rounds to play. Norris continues to head Piastri by 24 points atop the standings, but Red Bull rival Max Verstappen is now within 24 points after McLaren’s double disqualification from the 2025 Las Vegas GP.

McLaren’s Las Vegas GP double disqualification ‘confirmed’ they are ‘struggling’ with Max Verstappen’s pressure

Without Norris’ disqualification from P2 in the Las Vegas GP, which Verstappen won, the 26-year-old would have left with a 30-point lead over Piastri and by 42 over the Red Bull driver. But Tom Coronel thinks Norris and Piastri paid the price for McLaren feeling under pressure.

READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from parents to celebration

The Dutchman believes McLaren are now “completely at their wits’ end” in their bid to keep Norris and Piastri above Verstappen in the F1 drivers’ championship that the Woking natives are pushing the limits with their ride height to make the MCL39 a rival for the Red Bull RB21.

Coronel told Motorsport.com: “McLaren are under pressure [and] they’re making mistakes. They have to maximise everything, and by that I mean the ride height and things like that.

“Ultimately, that’s all there is to it, because they’ve started driving so low because they’re under pressure from Verstappen. Everything here indicates they’re completely at their wits’ end, struggling, and having to do it all with a knife to their throat.

“Seeing this now, and having it confirmed once again, makes the championship even more interesting, because you can assume that one millimetre costs two or three tenths of a lap. And they needed that millimetre to reach this speed.”

McLaren did not warn Oscar Piastri he was at risk during the Las Vegas GP, but they did tell Lando Norris

Norris is still in command of the 2025 F1 drivers’ championship ahead of the final rounds of the season in Qatar and Abu Dhabi. Piastri and Verstappen need the Briton to suffer further misfortune in the Lusail Sprint, Qatar GP and/or Abu Dhabi GP to claim the title this season.

READ MORE: McLaren driver Oscar Piastri’s life outside F1 from height to girlfriend

But Norris and Piastri’s disqualifications from the Las Vegas GP have now gifted Verstappen a chance to retain the title for a fifth straight year. And Piastri may have Norris and McLaren to blame for the FIA’s stewards investigating the skid plank on his car after Sunday’s race.

According to Blick, while Norris lost a lot of race time after McLaren told him to lift and coast towards the end of the Las Vegas GP, the papaya team did not give Piastri the same warning. And Motor Sport Magazine reports that Norris’ extensive lifting and coasting alerted the FIA.

The FIA stewards chose to check Norris and Piastri’s underfloor skid planks after seeing the amount that the former was backing off during the final laps of Sunday’s race. The stewards also checked the planks of the remaining top-10 finishers, which were all found to be legal.