McLaren faced a shocking double disqualification at the Las Vegas Grand Prix after both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were stripped of their points for exceeding plank wear limits. Team principal Andrea Stella has now provided a comprehensive explanation of the technical issues that led to the controversial outcome.
In an official statement addressing the incident, Stella detailed the unexpected factors that caught the team off guard during the race and outlined how the situation escalated throughout the weekend.
Andrea Stella Explains the Actual Problem
According to Stella, the primary cause of McLaren’s Las Vegas disaster was unexpected and extensive porpoising that emerged during the race itself. The team principal explained that this severe bouncing was not anticipated based on the data collected during practice sessions and the predictions for the car’s operating window during the race. He stated:
“The specific cause that led to the situation was the unexpected occurrence of extensive porpoising, inducing large vertical oscillations of the car. The level of porpoising was exacerbated by the conditions in which the car operated during the race, and it was not anticipated based on what we had seen in practice and based on the predictions of the car operating window in the race.”
What made this particularly troubling for McLaren was that the team had taken precautions to prevent such issues from arising. Stella emphasised that McLaren did not take excessive risks with ride height and had deliberately added a safety margin beyond what they used during practice sessions. However, these protective measures proved ineffective once the unexpected vertical oscillations began.
“Based on the data we had acquired in practice, we do not believe we took excessive risks in terms of ride height, and we also added a safety margin for qualifying and the race, compared to practice, in terms of clearance to the ground. However, the safety margin was negated by the unexpected onset of the large vertical oscillations, which caused the car to touch the ground,” Stella explained.
McLaren’s Failed Mitigation Attempts and Track-Specific Challenges
During the race, both drivers attempted corrective measures to address the porpoising problem, but with limited success. Stella revealed that the situation became apparent early in the race, prompting Norris to employ lift-and-coast techniques in the final laps to protect the plank, particularly at the end of straights, where the rear of the car would be pulled closer to the track surface at higher speeds.
Piastri did not employ the same methods to the same degree, partly because McLaren lost one of the sensors used to monitor ground contact on his car.
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Interestingly, Stella noted that reducing speed, which should theoretically increase ground clearance, proved counterproductive in certain sections of the track. He stated:
“The porpoising condition that the car developed in the race was also a difficult one to mitigate, as even a reduction in speed – an action that, in theory, should increase clearance to the ground – was only effective in some parts of the track but in others was actually counterproductive.”
New quotes from Andrea Stella on what went wrong for @McLarenF1 in Las Vegas: “The specific cause that led to the situation was the unexpected occurrence of extensive porpoising, inducing large vertical oscillations of the car. The level of porpoising was exacerbated by the… pic.twitter.com/nZKJkuLP10
— Adam Cooper (@adamcooperF1) November 27, 2025
Despite all top 10 cars being checked after the race, McLaren was the only team to breach plank wear regulations. Stella indicated that the porpoising issue appeared to be specific to McLaren’s operating window, combined with the unique circuit characteristics of Las Vegas, suggesting the team does not expect a similar outcome at upcoming races on different track layouts.