F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix Finishes in Drama: Race Favorite Disqualified

F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix Finishes in Drama: Race Favorite Disqualified

The true story took place three hours after the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix, which Max Verstappen won for Oracle Red Bull Racing on Saturday night.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, two McLaren drivers, were disqualified by race officials after their MCL39s failed a post-race inspection due to excessively worn skid boards.

Norris was the overwhelming favorite going into the race because he had won the last two races (Mexico and Brazil) and had started from pole position in Las Vegas.  But after he went wide at Turn 1, Verstappen overtook him and took command of the race.

The F1 Drivers' Championship landscape is drastically altered by the disqualifications of Norris and Piastri.  Norris leaves Las Vegas just 24 points ahead of both adversaries, who are now tied for second, 366–366, rather than increasing his lead to 30 points over Piastri and 42 over Verstappen.

There are 58 points available in Qatar (November 28–30) and Abu Dhabi (December 5–7) with two Grand Prix races and a Sprint remaining, escalating the race for the championship in the final stages.

Skid Planks: What Are They?

For safety purposes, skid boards are pieces of reinforced wood that restrict how much a racecar's undercarriage can scrape against the track.  The increased downforce generated by a racecar's floor is converted into an unfair aerodynamic advantage when they are run lower than permitted.

The International Automobile Federation (FIA), which oversees Formula One, examines all 20 vehicles following each race, looking for issues like fuel composition, tire pressure, oil consumption, torque management, and skid board thickness.

According to the FIA, all skid planks must measure 10 mm (±0.2 mm) when they are brand-new, with wear allowing a minimum of 9 mm.  Sky Sports reports that Piastri's skid boards measured 8.96 mm on the left front, 8.75 mm on the right front, and 8.9 mm on the right rear, while Norris' measured 8.88 mm on the right front and 8.93 mm on the right rear.

Team principal Andrea Stella described the issue with both cars as unexplained high levels of bouncing that were not observed during practice sessions, which resulted in excessive contact with the ground, in McLaren's post-race news release.

“We are investigating the reasons for this behavior 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.”

Kimi Antonelli, who started out fifth, was moved up to the podium in the revised standings, which are as follows:

1. Max Verstappen
2. George Russell
3. Kimi Antonelli
4. Charles Leclerc
5. Carlos Sainz
6. Isack Hadjar
7. Nico Hulkenberg
8. Lewis Hamilton
9. Esteban Ocon
10. Oliver Bearman