Both McLaren drivers were disqualified from the recent Las Vegas race
The McLaren team stated that the issue leading to the exclusion of both their cars from the Las Vegas Grand Prix had been noticeable from the outset of the event
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri lost their positions from their finishing positions correspondingly following inspection revealed their vehicle undersides had experienced excessive wear
Aerodynamic Problems Detailed
Team principal Andrea Stella explained that McLaren did "not consider we took excessive risk with the vehicle clearance" and that they had "added a protective buffer" intended to reduce skid wear during both qualifying and race
Stella noted the team detected an airflow issue known as "porpoising", where a vehicle bounces up and down against the ground, "beginning shortly after the start of the competition"
"It was clear from the information that the level of unexpected bouncing would be a problem," the team principal stated
"The team understood relatively soon that this level of oscillation was causing a significant amount of underside damage and this is the explanation why Norris and Piastri started to take remedial actions in various parts of the track"
Preventative Actions Employed
McLaren asked the pilots to employ a method known as 'lift and coast' before corners in an attempt to reduce the downforce pressure on the vehicles at the end of the straights, when the car is closest to the ground
"Unfortunately, we also saw that, due to the car operating window and the track features, the majority of these actions were insufficient in minimizing the bouncing issue," Stella commented
No further explanation as to the reason behind this has been provided
Understanding Porpoising
In current F1 cars, the bouncing phenomenon is resulting from a interruption in the wind current beneath the vehicle
Formula 1 vehicles employ what are known as 'tunnel' underbodies to accelerate the air movement and generate an zone of reduced air pressure that sucks the vehicle to the ground to increase cornering performance
If the underbody airflow is disrupted, it ceases functioning as effectively - or 'loses effectiveness' - leading to the car jumping up
This air movement then starts working again, pulling the vehicle downward until the same phenomenon is occurs again
This typically occurs about multiple instances a per second
Technical Specifications
The team principal detailed that the issue was resulting from "an irregularity in the performance of the vehicle, rather than it being the outcome of an excessive or excessive pursuit of speed"
The safety margin implemented had been "cancelled out by the unexpected beginning of the large up-and-down movements, which caused the vehicle to touch the ground"
Stella mentioned the amount of additional damage on the metal skids was "quite small"
- For Norris's vehicle, two of the skids were illegal - a front component by 0.12 millimeters and one at the rear by 0.07mm
- For Piastri's vehicle, three underside elements were reduced beyond the 9mm permitted minimum thickness - two front components by 0.04mm and 0.26mm and one at the rear by 0.1 millimeters
"Different from sporting or financial rules, there is no graduated scale in the application of sanctions for technical regulation infringements," the principal explained
"The FIA themselves has admitted that this lack of proportionality should be addressed in the future to guarantee that small and unintentional regulation breaches, with minimal or no competitive advantages, do not lead to disproportionate consequences"
Upcoming Events
Stella said he did not anticipate the problem to recur at this weekend's Qatar race
"The conditions we encountered last weekend and which led to the beginning of porpoising and excess of grounding, compared to what was anticipated, are very specific to the performance range of the vehicle in Las Vegas and the circuit characteristics"
"Our team maintains a thoroughly developed and refined way of setting up the vehicle and we are certain that this will guide us to an ideal strategy for the upcoming events, starting from the Lusail International Circuit"
Title Battle
Norris leads Piastri and Red Bull's Max Verstappen by 24 points with a pair of events remaining, in the Middle Eastern nation and the UAE capital a following week
The driver could secure world champion on Sunday if he scores two more points than his rivals irrespective of where he finishes, or one more point if he wins on Sunday
The mathematics are complex by the fact Qatar is a sprint event with a reduced-distance competition on the previous day in which drivers can also score points
Team Philosophy
The British team have operated their team this season on a philosophy that the pilots will be permitted to compete with one another for the championship for as far as each are theoretically able of winning
Stella said there was "no reason to alter this approach" before the next race
"Our position has consistently been that as far as the maths does not indicate differently, we would leave it up to the two drivers to fight for their chance at the championship, and that is how it will be in Qatar"
"Let's not forget that if anyone had told us at the beginning of the season that we would be positioned in this situation with a pair of events to remain, we would have signed up for it"
"Currently we are preparing to compete for the double world championship with confidence and understanding of our strength"