Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have both been disqualified from the results of the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

The stewards heard from the Team Principal, Team Sporting Director and Technical Director of McLaren the FIA Single Seater Director, the FIA Single Seater Technical Director and the FIA Technical Delegate.

The rear skids of both McLarens were measured and found to be below the minimum thickness of 9mm specified under Article 3.5.9 of the Technical Regulations. The relevant measurements were LHS Front 8.96mm, RHS Front 8.74mm, RHS Rear 8.90mm on Piastri's car and RHS Front 8.88mm, RHS Rear 8.93mm on Norris'.

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.

Accordingly, the stewards determined that a breach of the Technical Regulations had occurred.

The stewards then heard submissions on penalty. McLaren argued that mitigating circumstances existed in that there was additional and unexpected porpoising at this event, limited opportunity to test due to the weather on Day 1, and shortened practice sessions. Further the Woking team submitted that the degree of the breach was lower than prior breaches of this regulation in 2025.

The FIA argued that unfortunately there was no provision in the regulations or in precedent for any penalty other than the usual penalty (i.e. disqualification). The FIA noted that it strongly held the view that the breach was unintentional and that there was not deliberate attempt to circumvent the regulations.

The stewards also noted the various decisions of the FIA International Court of Appeal The Stewards which limit the ability to avoid disqualification for technical breaches.

Notwithstanding the submission by the team that there was potentially accidental damage that may have led to movement of the floor which could have caused additional wear, the stewards did not consider this sufficient to mitigate the penalty.

The stewards determined that Article 3.5.9 of the FIA Formula One Technical Regulations has been breached and therefore the standard penalty of a disqualification needs to be applied for such an infringement.

Check out our Sunday gallery from Las Vegas here.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by dejan, 26/11/2025 20:32

"The plank is just a gimmick - when F1 reintroduced ground effect cars they should have just made the regulations to require "safe" cars - no drivers' heads shaking due to the porpoising and whatever else they want to do (have a dynamometer in the car and check it at the end of the race, or read it remotely is you need instant results). "

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2. Posted by ffracer, 26/11/2025 8:19

"In 1976, the F1 lawmakers found James Hunt's race winning McLaren M23 to be 1 cm too wide and stripped him of the win. McLaren appealed the verdict and overturned it.... In 2025, the McLarens were found to exceed plankwear on a street course with loosening manhole covers between 0.1 - 0.266 MM, at the most by a quarter of a MM... This is when I miss the practical level headedness of the late Charlie Whiting. This should have been an incredibly stern warning in a backroom discussion, not disqualification. Ferari's engines, a few years back, miraculously avoided disqualification for worse."

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3. Posted by Ricardo_sanchez, 23/11/2025 21:12

"@Editor - that is very mean, indeed!

We should remember that “Nothing is ever as it seems”. And with that in mind, I’m expecting the imminent collapse of everything that relies on events being exactly as they seem: logic, science, journalism…and normal daily life.
"

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4. Posted by Editor, 23/11/2025 20:29

"I know it's mean, but I'm trying to imagine a certain person's reaction should Oscar cross the line to claim the championship in Abu Dhabi, but moments later, in the final corner, Lando or Max - take your pick - passes Lewis Hamilton to leapfrog Oscar in the standings."

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5. Posted by Superbird70, 23/11/2025 19:19

"What are the chances it all comes down to a last lap safety car restart in Abu Dhabi?"

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6. Posted by Editor, 23/11/2025 15:27

"@ Dirt

I swear I can hear Dr Mike chuckling."

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7. Posted by Dirt, 23/11/2025 15:24

"It appears that Turk Thrust is on retainer at Liberty..."

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8. Posted by Spindoctor, 23/11/2025 13:56

"Let's face it, McLaren don't really give a toss about winning the WDC. Yes, it's a 'nice to have', but as long as they get the manufacturer's dosh they're happy. Having said that this must rank as amongst the stupidest 'cockups' in F1 history.
Verstappen's win was pretty predictable. After last time's shenanigans confusing the issue, we can now see the car is magically transformed from slothful dog to athletic thoroughbred. The Driver's championship will now go profitably 'down to the wire'. I can hear the tills ringing from here...."

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9. Posted by Superbird70, 23/11/2025 13:49

"McLaren doing their best to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. "

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10. Posted by Celtic Tiger, 23/11/2025 13:47

"Wow, but when I think about it, I'm not really surprised. You can see the skid plate quite low in some shots on Norris and a lot of sparking at slower speeds. McLaren, I think, were trying to be sly. Just like Norris trying to do the Verstappen squeeze on Verstappen, McLaren played themselves. It's really a shame for both drivers; what was once a LN 408, OP 378 and MV 366 is now a LN 390, OP 366 and MV 366. I mean, Jesus, the hob is fully cranked up under some ar*es now!
Because in the words of Bart Simpson, Verstappen is "...like some sort of... non-giving up... school guy"."

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11. Posted by Chester, 23/11/2025 13:34

"Weedoggies! When examining performance over the season, I rate Verstappen's performance as superior to both Lando and Oscar. And to me, THAT is a big part of BEING a WDC, not just winning by 2-3 points.

Go Verstappen!"

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12. Posted by estoril85, 23/11/2025 13:20

"Looking forward to WWE Raw on Monday for something less contrived!

Not saying Max is favoured, I don't think that at all, just better of rthe Liberty/DtS crowd to have it go to a last round 3 way shootout, cue lingering slow mo's of Norris, Piastri & Verstappen on the 5 minute build up live feed."

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13. Posted by KKK, 23/11/2025 11:58

"What a load of codswallop! The measurements are within the size of a public hair. Just to make the scrutineers feel wanted. I just think that to have a race in Las Vegas is unacceptable. Keep the town for hookers, gamblers and drugdealers, not F1"

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14. Posted by Motorsport-fan, 23/11/2025 10:43

"Can fully understand Piastris disqualification as you could clearly see excessive sparking on the coverage, a Mclaren own goal and no excuse as all the other cars checked passed, Max must clearly think now the championship is getting ever closer."

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Norris and Piastri disqualified

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