We’re in the process of planning this event for November 18, 2023. Further, the team’s two drivers, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, risked disqualification. They infringed Formula One technical regulations concerning the excessive wear of the skid blocks on their cars. The incident has huge ramifications on the drivers’ championship. It opens a door wide enough for Max Verstappen to drive through and claim his first championship.
The disqualification resulted from the fact that the skid blocks had been completely worn down. Yet these titanium plates, mounted within the car’s floor, dipped under the regulatory threshold of 9mm. The technical regulations require not less than 10mm thickness of the plank assembly. It does this by allowing a maximum variance of just 0.2mm on the planks when they are new. Both Norris and Piastri suffered this disappointment after a race where both had been looking very good throughout the weekend.
New McLaren team principal Andrea Stella was very aware of the situation’s seriousness during a recent press conference. He said there was “no grey area” in the rules and took responsibility for not intentionally violating them.
“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.” – Andrea Stella
The ramifications of this disqualification are especially poignant in light of the current Formula One season. Lando Norris has taken a total of 390 points and celebrations a complete of seven wins. Oscar Piastri is just behind him with 366 points, with seven victories to his name. Max Verstappen, third in points with 366 points and six wins, is the big winner from McLaren’s blunder.
With only two races left in the season, it’s very clear that… To win the championship, Norris must outscore both Verstappen and Piastri by at least two points in next weekend’s Doha Grand Prix. The stakes have never been higher for McLaren’s drivers, either.
Piastri too took to X to express his dismay, discussing the influence of their disqualification on his season’s results.
“It’s frustrating to lose so many points.” – Lando Norris
The FIA accepted that McLaren could show mitigation circumstances. They ruled that sudden porpoising or a lack of time to test owing to poor weather conditions could not justify the violation of regulations.
“[It is] disappointing to come away from this weekend with no points after an unfortunate disqualification due to skid wear. With how close the grid is, we’re always looking at where we can gain performance, and we didn’t get it right this time.” – Oscar Piastri
Norris emphasized this sentiment in his comments, stating:
As McLaren looks ahead to the final two races of the season—both of which are tracks where they have historically performed well—the team aims to regroup and refocus efforts on securing as many points as possible. Norris emphasized this sentiment in his comments, stating:
“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.” – Lando Norris