McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have issued statements after being disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
The FIA released a detailed statement in which they explained why both drivers had been punished, with the rule breach identical to what disqualified Ferrari duo Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc back in China.
With reigning champion Max Verstappen winning in Sin City, Norris now sits just 24 points ahead of his title rivals who are tied in second place with 58 points to play for.
Their disqualification promotes 19-year-old Kimi Antonelli into third position giving him back-to-back podiums, with George Russell also moving up from third to second.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piasrti in Las Vegas (credit: getty)
Norris and Piastri react to Las Vegas DSQ
Following the shock decision, both McLaren drivers along with their Team Principal Andrea Stella have issued statements.
“A frustrating end to today,” Norris’ statement began.
“We had to do some managing towards the end of the race and now we know it was due to some issues on our car, which have unfortunately resulted in us being disqualified. It’s frustrating to lose so many points.
“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,” he added.
Despite being filmed looking rather pleased with the decision for his own ambitions, Piastri echoed Norris’ frustration at the situation that leaves McLaren pointless in Nevada.
“Disappointing to come away from this weekend with no points after an unfortunate disqualification due to skid wear,” Piastri explained.
“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. We now need to reset, refocus and push to get the best points possible in the final two rounds, both tracks that we’ve been strong at previously.”
Stella emphasised the team’s apologies to their drivers given the huge stakes in play as we reach the boiling point of the season.
“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,” he wrote.
The Italian also stressed the breach was not an attempt to gain an advantage, and shift the blame from the team to ‘mitigating circumstances’.
“As the FIA noted, the breach was unintentional, there was no deliberate attempt to circumvent the regulations, and mitigating circumstances also existed,” he added.
