An Engineer’s Overview of Why the McLarens Got Disqualified at the Las Vegas Grand Prix

Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris disqualified during post-race check at the Las Vegas Grand Prix. (Photo Credit: X/ Formula 1, November 23rd, 2025)

ROHAN SINGH - STAFF WRITER

The Formula One season has ramped up the expectations and excitement. With only two races to go, the title fight has closed in for the final three contenders. Lando Norris is now under a lot of pressure with a mere 24-point lead over both Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri, who have 366 points each to their name.

With 58 points up for grabs in the upcoming weekends, it will only take one bad weekend for Lando to fall into the danger zone. But why did this happen? The viewers who had logged off after Saturday night's Las Vegas Grand Prix were greeted with a shocking revelation the next morning. Both McLarens were disqualified owing to their failure to comply with the post-race checks.

The rear skid plate on both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri's cars was thinner than the FIA's required dimensions. This meant that the car no longer conformed to the 2025 season rules. It reminded the viewers of the fate that Ferrari suffered during their disastrous Chinese Grand Prix weekend. On the other hand, it was a big loss for the Papayas, who just lost out on crucial drivers’ championship points from a P2 and P4 finish.

But why exactly did this fiasco happen?

The Ruling: What Happened at the Las Vegas Grand Prix

First of all, let’s understand the real ruling behind this shock disqualification. According to Article 3.5.9 of the Technical Regulations, the skid block of the car should be no less than 9 mm thick. Which, in this case, according to the FIA, meant—

"The rear skids were re-measured in the presence of the Stewards, and the three McLaren representatives, and those measurements confirmed that the skids did not comply with the regulations. The relevant measurements were even lower than those measured originally by the Technical Delegate."

FIA noted that this was not deliberate, and McLaren even tried to refute the argument by claiming that it was due to the lack of testing and practice due to the shortened sessions. Nevertheless, McLaren’s arguments didn’t win over the FIA, and they were handed a penalty.

The Cause: Why Did McLaren Lose Out with Their Skid Plate

Now you must be wondering – if McLarens are the fastest cars on the grid, then how come they lost out? The problem here is not the speed; the problem is related to the management of the speed. If we talk about the track, then we will realize that Las Vegas is a high-speed circuit. The cars reach top speeds and sustain them for long straights before slowing down along the strip and surrounding streets.

These 2022-spec Formula 1 cars have heavily ground-effect aerodynamics. The underside of the Formula 1 car produces a Venturi effect when air passes below. This sucks the car downwards and keeps it rigidly pushed to the ground at those high speeds. But this effect comes with a trade-off. When the car is pushed down towards the ground at high speeds, it ends up skidding against the ground, and the moment it touches the ground, the airflow abruptly chokes and stalls for a moment, leading to an instant loss in downforce, which shoots the car back up.

This effect is known as porpoising, which was a big problem for drivers since the start of these 2022-spec cars. To protect the underbody of the car from coming into contact with the ground, Formula 1 has used skid blocks. These blocks wear out on the straights when they come into contact with the ground. But the skid blocks are not a permanent solution; they will still rub against the ground at high speeds and wear out badly.

To confirm with the Technical Regulations, teams try to optimise the ride height. If the ride height is too low, they will end up causing too much wear and lose out, as McLaren did during the post-race checks. Adding on to this issue, Las Vegas is a street circuit. Why does it matter, you say? A street circuit is not built for high-speed racing. It is not perfectly flat and does not sport a smooth tarmac. It is bumpy and causes huge instability to the cars’ aerodynamics and ground effects.

The bumpy track and low ride height combination for the Papaya cars was their critical failure this weekend. Hence, the latest Grand Prix weekend failure from McLaren teaches us that no matter how fast your car goes, if you can’t handle the speed, the consequences to your hardware will bring you down. And in this case, if things go a certain way at Qatar and Abu Dhabi, it could cost both drivers a shot at the World Driver's Championship, as Max Verstappen has stolen all of the momentum after a flawless run in the United States.