McLaren Investigates Vegas โฃDisqualification, FIA Considers Penalty Reform
McLaren teamโ principal โคAndrea Stella โhas revealed โฃthe FIA is considering changesโ to penaltyโข structures following theโค team’sโฃ double disqualification from the Las โVegas Grand Prix.Both โฃLando Norris and Oscar Piastri were removed from the race results after their โคcars wereโ found to have skid blocks below the mandated 9mm thickness.
The technical infringement,โข governed by strict regulations, left McLaren with no avenue for appeal. However, stella indicatedโข the FIA is now exploringโข a more nuanced approach to penalties, potentially scaling punishments โbased on theโ severity of the โคbreach โandโฃ any performanceโข advantage gained.
“We verified with theโ technical delegate that the skid thickness measurements were accurate,” Stella explained.โ “Despite the โขwear being minimal – 0.12mm โfor Lando andโข 0.26mm โfor Oscar – the regulations areโค clear: rear skids must be at least โ9mmโ thick at the race’s โconclusion, โฃin all locations.”
Stella highlighted a keyโฃ difference in how technicalโ rules are enforced compared to sporting or financial regulations. “Unlikeโ those areas,there’s currently no proportionality in applying โpenalties forโ technical infringements.” โ
The FIA has acknowledged thisโฃ lack of proportionality, Stella stated,โค and is looking to address it. The goal โis to prevent minor,unintentional technical issues with negligibleโ performance benefits from resulting in disproportionately severe โขconsequences. The FIA also confirmed theโฃ infringementโ was not intentional, with โขno purposeful attemptโค to circumvent regulations, and acknowledged โฃmitigating circumstances which were presented to theโ event stewards.
Despite โthe โขsetback,which has seen โขMax โฃVerstappen โขclose the gap in the drivers’ championship to 24 โคpoints with two racesโฃ remaining,Stella firmly asserted that the disqualification wasn’t a consequence of aggressively pursuing performance to counter โVerstappen’s recent gains. โข
“What happened in Vegas was due to โan anomaly in the car’sโ behavior, not โan excessive โorโ unreasonable chase of performance,” Stella emphasized. “Our performance-focused approach โคhas โฃdelivered two consecutiveโ constructors’ championships โขand placed โboth our drivers at the championship’s forefront with two races toโค go. โWe constantly learn โขand adapt,โ and we will certainly leverage the insights gained from the Vegas experience.”
