McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has revealed that “high levels of porpoising not seen in the Practice sessions, which led to excessive contact with the ground” was behind the disqualifications.

Stella has apologised to both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri for what the FIA confirmed was an unintentional breach of rules.

He said: “Following the Las Vegas Grand Prix, we were found in breach of Article 3.5.9 of the Technical Regulations, which requires a minimum of 9mm skid thickness. Car 4 was found in breach by a maximum of 0.12mm of the rearmost skid and Car 81 by a maximum of 0.26mm of the rearmost skid.

“During the race, both cars experienced unexpected, high levels of porpoising not seen in the Practice sessions, which led to excessive contact with the ground. We are investigating the reasons for this behaviour of the car, including the effect of accidental damage sustained by both cars, which we found after the race, and that led to an increase of movement of the floor.

“As the FIA noted, the breach was unintentional, there was no deliberate attempt to circumvent the regulations, and mitigating circumstances also existed.

“We apologise to Lando and Oscar for the loss of points today, at a critical time in their Championship campaigns after two strong performances from them all weekend. As a team, we also apologise to our partners and fans, whose support means so much.

“While this outcome is extremely disappointing, we remain fully focused on the last two races of the season.”



By Jack McEachen,Tom Parsons

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