The team’s first-ever double DQ has raised fresh concerns about how far McLaren are pushing their limits under title pressure.
McLaren suffered a historic setback at the 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix after Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were both disqualified for running illegal skid plank thicknesses. Norris lost his P2 finish and Piastri was stripped of P4, marking the first time the team has seen both cars thrown out of a Formula 1 race.
Post-race inspections revealed that the skid blocks on both MCL39s fell below the mandatory 9mm minimum outlined in Article 3.5.9 of F1’s technical regulations. Norris’ plank measured as low as 8.88mm, while Piastri’s showed multiple infringements ranging from 8.74mm to 8.96mm — margins small enough to be performance-related, but significant enough for automatic disqualification.
The penalties have turned the championship picture on its head. Norris still leads the standings, but Max Verstappen is now within 24 points with two rounds remaining. Without the DQ, Norris would have left Las Vegas with a 42-point cushion over the Red Bull star.
Double DQ ‘confirmed’ McLaren are feeling Verstappen’s title pressure
Dutch driver and pundit Tom Coronel believes the disqualifications are symptomatic of a wider problem — that McLaren have been pushed into desperation by Verstappen’s relentless pace. He argues that the team are trimming ride height aggressively in a bid to keep their title hopes alive, and the Las Vegas checks exposed how close to the edge they are.
“McLaren are under pressure and they’re making mistakes,” Coronel told Motorsport.com. “They’ve started driving so low because they’re under pressure from Verstappen. Everything here indicates they’re completely at their wits’ end, struggling, having to do it all with a knife to their throat.”
Coronel added that a single millimetre of ride height can be worth “two or three tenths of a second,” and that McLaren may have chased that gain too far in Las Vegas.
McLaren warned Norris but not Piastri before the FIA intervened
Despite the breach affecting both cars, reports suggest McLaren only warned Norris of the potential risk during the race. According to Blick, Norris was told to lift and coast heavily in the closing laps, costing him significant time — whereas Piastri received no such message.
This discrepancy may have triggered the investigation. Motor Sport Magazine reports that Norris’ extreme lifting and coasting caught the attention of FIA stewards, prompting them to examine the underfloor skid planks on both McLarens. They then checked the remaining top-10 finishers, whose cars were all found to be compliant.
Norris remains in control of the title race heading into Qatar and Abu Dhabi, but McLaren’s double DQ has opened the door wide for Verstappen. With three competitive sessions remaining — the Lusail Sprint, the Qatar Grand Prix and the Abu Dhabi finale — the championship fight has become far more volatile than McLaren would have hoped.
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