McLaren has issued an apology to both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri after the duo were disqualified from the F1 Las Vegas GP for excessive plank wear. The race had been a standard one for the team and the drivers, with Norris finishing second behind Max Verstappen and Piastri in fourth place. After the race, however, in the post-race scrutiny, both McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were found to have suffered from excessive plank wear that led to the duo being disqualified from the race. The result is a major blow for Norris, especially, who had emerged as the championship favorite after this race. If the original results had stayed, Lando Norris would be going into the F1 Qatar GP next race weekend 42 points ahead of rival Max Verstappen and 30 points clear of teammate Oscar Piastri. As it stands, the driver is only 24 points ahead of both Piastri and Verstappen. In the team’s press release, McLaren boss Andrea Stella issued an apology to the duo, as both were hampered in the title battle by the disqualification. He said, “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.” He added, “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. Lando Norris on the McLaren’s double disqualification The disqualification severely hampers Lando Norris, as the driver almost had one hand on the trophy when he emerged in 2nd behind Max Verstappen. The driver had enough of a buffer that, unless he suffered a major incident, he could coast to the championship. Those dynamics have, however, changed now. Lando Norris’ lead over Max Verstappen is not too much, and the driver would have to be careful. In the team’s press release, the driver conceded that what’s done is done as the focus shifts to Qatar. He said, “It’s frustrating to lose so many points. As a team, we’re always pushing to find as much performance as we can, and we clearly didn’t get that balance right today. Nothing I can do will change that now, instead full focus switches to Qatar, where we’ll aim to go out and deliver the best possible performance in every session.” The next race in Qatar is certainly going to be interesting, as with two race weekends left, we have three drivers in contention for the championship. Something that hasn’t been the case since 2010.
https://www.sportskeeda.com/f1/news-mclaren-issues-apology-lando-norris-oscar-piastri-duo-disqualified-f1-las-vegas-gp
