McLaren walked away from the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix with nothing, but is it the victim of circumstance, or is it a self-inflicted nightmare?
Double disqualifications in F1 are, by and large, extremely rare, reserved for only the most serious transgressions. To qualify, a team must be in breach of fundamental technical regulations, in most cases, to obtain a lasting competitive advantage.
The most recent case was this season’s Chinese Grand Prix, when Ferrari was excluded for the same reason as McLaren on Saturday night at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit: excessive rear skid block wear. The Scuderia was lambasted by the paddock and pundits alike, as the skid block, or plank, is a feature first added to cars in 1994.
Teams have known the strict rules surrounding plank wear for 31 years, longer than most of F1’s new fans have been alive. Its introduction was designed to prevent cars from bottoming out or running dangerously low to the ground following Ayrton Senna’s death at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. The block must not exceed 1mm of wear.
In an era of ground-effect cars, where air needs to run underneath the car, achieving as low a ride height as possible is critical to extracting performance. But the plank provides a vital buffer that prevents the teams from chasing extreme set-ups for performance.
In short, 31 years is a huge length of time to find out how something works or should work. It’s a bit like logging on to your computer in the morning: you know precisely where the power button is located, how to operate a keyboard, and what your password is. What McLaren did in Las Vegas is the equivalent of forgetting the computer has a power button. It is such a fundamental error that it is inexcusable for a title-winning operation.
Why did McLaren’s plank wear more than others?
Harsh? Yes, but F1 is at the business end of the season, and mistakes of this nature are generally not seen. McLaren is locked in a battle of its own making with Max Verstappen for the Drivers’ title and every error has massive ramifications at this stage of the year.
No other team suffered skid-block wear to the extent that McLaren did. This was evident in the data. Lando Norris was 0.12mm over the wear limit, Oscar Piastri 0.26mm.
Answering why such an oversight occurred is a complicated question. McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella was at pains to explain that the infringement was caused by extreme porpoising wearing down the plank over the course of the weekend, believing the MCL39 a victim of impacted practice time due to loose drain covers and rainfall.
However, even Ferrari, a team with history on this delicate topic, did not suffer a second double exclusion after its own struggles in Sin City.
The team knew coming into the weekend that the Las Vegas circuit would not play to the strengths of the MCL39, with stability key to understanding its best set-up options. Instead, the Nevada desert threw everything it could at the Woking-based squad. Not an excuse, but most definitely a factor.
Locking in set-ups after a chaotic build-up like this would naturally become a leap of faith, like an adrenaline junkie jumping off a cliff and praying the water below is deep enough. It was always going to be a case of extreme risk versus reward.
The other factor specified for the oversight was “accidental damage to both cars”. The team did not elaborate on this, leaving more questions. Norris’s excursion at the first corner could, in theory, have led to damage, but given he missed the kerbs, this must have occurred mid-race.
Piastri’s more excessive wear and slower pace is a more competent candidate. Losing places at the start, but missing the carnage in the midfield, his lack of speed could easily be attributed to car damage.
Regardless of the ins and outs, McLaren has shot itself in the foot more than a pirate walking the plank, then opting to throw itself off. It is an embarrassing end to a weekend that looked to have been salvaged with Norris in a commanding position.
A championship slipping away?
From ‘papaya rules’ to Piastri’s apparent social media slip, reposting a post on McLaren’s apparent favouring of Norris, all has not been well at Woking since winning the Constructors’ title. An almost certain double championship has whittled away to the stage where Piastri has lost a 106-point cushion to Verstappen in just six races.
Verstappen is now tied on points with Piastri, both now 24 points away from leader Norris. It is nothing short of a catastrophe for the team and its title ambitions. Norris has been riding the crest of a wave, comfortably faster than Piastri, and executing perfect races as he seeks to break Verstappen’s four-year hold on the Drivers’ Championship.
But Las Vegas threatens a return to the Norris of old. While his dart across the start line to cover off Verstappen had a peak Michael Schumacher-esque feel, its execution was more the Norris of Spa 2024, making a move without thinking and suffering the consequences. He rallied and recovered to finish second on the road, once again well ahead of his team-mate, but his confidence needs to be unaffected by his team’s faux pas under the lights in Las Vegas.
Piastri’s evening is sadly another chapter in his recent run of races for the Australian. The reversal of fortune following the Dutch Grand Prix is staggering. He is without a podium finish in six races and has seen a once mighty championship lead slip away, through poor pace and self-induced errors.
Piastri’s collapsing year mirrors Norris’ in 2024. Crashing out of the Brazil Sprint Race was a poetic throwback to Norris’ meltdown on the same track while chasing Verstappen for a title already out of reach. Whether he can rally himself in the next two races remains to be seen.
Qatar critical to prevent a Verstappen onslaught in Abu Dhabi
McLaren has no time to lick its wounds, as practice for Qatar gets underway in just three days. Both the Team and the drivers must be at the top of their game to keep momentum away from Red Bull. Expect the reigning champions to come out fighting, with all hands-on deck to deliver the title. But given the lengths McLaren has gone to guarantee parity for Norris and Piastri, a fightback needs to be carefully worked through.
Verstappen is driving for what is all but a one-car team and has nothing to lose as the outsider going into the final two races. He can push himself and Red Bull to the limit, while McLaren is hindered by its push for driver equality. Neither operating model is wrong, but the comparisons to 2007 are still obvious. McLaren threw away the Drivers’ title pushing for equality to both drivers. The same line echoed 18 years on: the team is willing to lose the title to Verstappen in the pursuit of fairness.
Far from a pipedream, the Dutchman can see his fifth consecutive title dangled in front of him like a piece of exquisite chocolate cake. It is made all the sweeter by McLaren’s seeming inability to understand plank wear.
The legendary late F1 commentator Murray Walker had a legendary adage: “Anything can happen in Formula 1 and it usually does”. His words once again are proving prophetic. Unless McLaren’s weekend in Qatar is perfect, Verstappen will almost be able to taste his chocolate cake.
READ MORE – McLaren explains shock double DSQ from F1 Las Vegas GP
Discussion about this post