The disqualification of both McLarens from the Las Vegas Grand Prix was a shock given the way the race ended had left a big implication that only Lando Norris was at risk, and for a very different reason.
Norris seemed to have taken another step towards his first world title despite only finishing second after a self-described “f*** up” that helped hand Max Verstappen win the Vegas race.
But after securing that result despite drastic action seemingly being taken to save fuel, with zero sign of any issue for fourth-placed Oscar Piastri, the disqualification of both McLarens for excessive plank wear was a dramatic twist.
Whenever Norris or McLaren were asked about the aggressive lift and coast measures Norris had done in the final few laps of the race, the answers were cagey at best.
The instructions appeared to be an attempt to save enough fuel to finish the race, and provide a sample to the FIA for inspection afterwards – especially as one of the last radio messages to Norris was that “the fuel looks OK now”.
Norris himself referenced "some issues with the car" afterwards but, presumably because of the radio messages we were also hearing during the race, also implied it was fuel related when he said he wasn’t sure if “we just used more than expected”.
But the lift-and-coast messages and fuel implications turned out to be a red herring.
It seems McLaren’s messages were essentially coded and that Norris was having to lift and coast but not to manage fuel - to try to protect the plank. Norris is even quoted in McLaren’s press release as confirming the end-of-race management was “due to some issues on our car, which have unfortunately resulted in us being disqualified”.
So, by reducing his speed at the end of the straights, Norris would limit how much the rear of the car is pulled closer to the track surface, and avoid the underneath of the floor smashing into the track surface quite as much.
The team has said very little, with team principal Andrea Stella’s usual post-race media session postponed and then abandoned entirely after the long wait for an FIA verdict – and McLaren’s release offering not much else.
But the end-of-race management was wear-related, not fuel, so something in what McLaren can measure remotely during the race must have made it worried that Norris was at serious risk of excessive wear if he continued pushing to the end.
Whether McLaren went into the race knowing this would be marginal is unclear but the fact Piastri wasn’t urged to protect his plank implies that McLaren had no reason to suspect his car was in trouble, and that it was a concern that solidified during the grand prix.
What McLaren could infer about plank wear from its data must have left it hopeful that Piastri running in DRS meant he was subjecting the plank to a less tough time, whereas Norris’s data caused greater concern.
That would also be consistent with the careful radio messages, so as not to bring attention to something that might not have been inspected post-race anyway.
Piastri might have been at lower risk of specific checks too, given he was outside the podium places, but it could also be that McLaren didn’t think it was a big enough risk that it was worth Piastri backing off significantly.
This would have lost him crucial positions given he was right behind Kimi Antonelli, who had a time penalty, and just ahead of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari.
Regardless, McLaren made a misjudgement of how marginal its plank wear actually would be in a quick, dry race.
It has been costly for this race and could have great ramifications in the championship too.
While Piastri’s disqualification means Norris has at least retained a good buffer to his team-mate, their non-score and Verstappen’s victory means the Red Bull driver has made massive inroads to the top.
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And Norris’s lead is considerably more vulnerable than it looked when the race finished. He is now 24 points ahead of both Piastri and Verstappen, when it looked like he would extend his advantage over Piastri to 30 points – and that Verstappen would be 42 behind.
With only 58 points on offer across two rounds remaining in Qatar, which includes a sprint race, and the finale in Abu Dhabi, that is a very different championship picture.
