McLaren’s Vegas Nightmare: Why Ground-Effect Rules Cost Them Big
McLaren pushed their cars too far in Las Vegas and paid the ultimate price, according to former F1 team boss Guenther Steiner.
Both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were thrown out of the race results after officials found excessive wear on their cars’ floor planks.
“With these cars, you need to go to the limit to get performance out of them,” Steiner explained on the Drive to Wynn podcast.
The ex-Haas boss believes McLaren’s eagerness to fix last year’s Vegas struggles backfired dramatically.
“Everybody knew that McLaren here last year didn’t perform as they wanted, and they said, ‘We found out what was wrong,'” he said. “But maybe a little bit too much, they found out and got it wrong.”
It’s a brutal reminder of F1’s technical tightrope. Teams constantly balance performance against rule compliance.
The issue comes down to simple physics – the closer these cars run to the ground, the faster they go. But there’s a catch.
“The lower you run, the faster you go, and the more downforce you get, but you expose yourself to the risk of being disqualified because you wear the plank out,” Steiner added.
Vegas’ tricky weather didn’t help matters either.
“It was raining in free practice. You don’t get any real data because you’re not going at the same speeds as in dry conditions,” Steiner pointed out. Without solid practice data, teams essentially make educated guesses about optimal ride height.
What should have been a solid points finish for McLaren quickly turned into a nightmare. Officials found both cars broke the plank-wear rules after the race, wiping out their results completely.
## Norris Still Focused Despite Vegas Setback
Despite this massive blow, Norris isn’t giving up on his title dreams.
The young Brit still holds a 24-point championship lead and remains committed to performing at his best in the final two races of the season.
## Qatar Grand Prix Up Next
F1 now heads to Lusail for the Qatar Grand Prix, the penultimate round of this thrilling 2025 season.
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