Formula 1 News: McLaren ‘hara-kiri’ blows title race wide open
(GMM) The Formula 1 title fight has been dramatically revived after both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were disqualified from the Las Vegas GP for excessive plank wear.
Hours after the checkered flag, FIA inspectors ruled that both McLarens breached the minimum thickness requirement, reducing Norris’ points lead over Max Verstappen from 42 to just 24 with two grands prix and a sprint still to run.
Verstappen is now equal on points with Piastri.
“Max Verstappen’s shadow suddenly grows much larger,” wrote Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport.
La Repubblica declared that “McLaren commits hara-kiri in Las Vegas,” while Austria’s Kurier suggested “0.12 millimeters could decide the World Championship”.
The decision comes amid ongoing FIA attention following reports after Brazil that several teams were experimenting with heat-expanding titanium skid plates to slow plank wear. Japanese outlet as-web.jp claimed some technical chiefs suspect certain rivals have learned how to make the skids absorb “large amounts of heat”.
McLaren insisted the Vegas breach was caused by damage.
“We were able to determine after the race that the floor was moving excessively,” team boss Andrea Stella said.
McLaren engineers clearly used coded language late in the race as sensor readings raised concerns, with Norris being told to lift and coast for what the team publicly described as fuel management.
Piastri did not receive similar instructions due to on-track battles.
“I think there were just some issues with the car,” Norris said before learning of his exclusion. “The team were telling me on the radio, so I just had to back off a bit.”
Even without the disqualification, the Briton admitted he was already uneasy about McLaren’s pace.
“It seems like lately we’ve been able to improve our quali pace, but our race pace has taken a bit of a hit,” he said. “We’ll see what’s changed over the last few weeks and what we can improve for Qatar.”
Red Bull, meanwhile, was leaving Las Vegas confident even before the disqualifications. Dr Helmut Marko argued that Verstappen had Norris under pressure.
“He forced him into an error,” he told reporters, referring to Norris’ turn 1 mistake. “After that, Max was always able to react. He was the fastest and managed the tyres. Norris would never have caught us.”
Piastri, meanwhile, continued his subdued run.
“Now I’m in a situation where I can’t win it simply by winning races,” he said. “What I can do is put myself in the best position to take advantage if something happens. I want to win the next two races – that’s all I can do.”
NOS analyst Jeroen Bleekemolen agrees the situation has changed sharply.
“The title race is pretty much wide open again,” he said. “It’s a decent gap, those 24 points, but there’s also a sprint in Qatar. It’s possible again.”