McLaren clarifies team’s approach after Las Vegas double disqualification

12:13, 27 Nov

Updated: 13:42, 27 Nov

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byKada Sarkozi

Andrea Stella described the team's double disqualification at the Las Vegas GP as an 'anomaly'.

"What happened in Vegas was due to an anomaly in the behaviour of the car, rather than it being the outcome of an excessive or unreasonable chase of performance."

- Andrea Stella

According to the McLaren team boss, what happened last Saturday in Las Vegas will not be repeated at the Lusail International Circuit.

He said in McLaren's Q&A: "The conditions we experienced last weekend and which led to the onset of porpoising and excess of grounding, compared to what was expected, are very specific to the operating window of the car in Vegas and the circuit characteristics."

Therefore, Stella is confident that McLaren can set up its cars well for the upcoming round.

He continued: "We have a well-established and consolidated way of setting up the car and we are confident that this will lead us to an optimal plan for the coming races, starting from the Lusail International Circuit.

"Nevertheless, we learn from every lesson and the one in Las Vegas has been able to provide some useful information about the operating window of the car and the porpoising regime"

Stella on the McLaren pit wall - Photo: Race Pictures

McLaren not discouraged by the Las Vegas result

Stella further explained that McLaren's approach will not change moving forward chasing performance.

He added: "What happened in Vegas was due to an anomaly in the behaviour of the car, rather than it being the outcome of an excessive or unreasonable chase of performance.

"Our way of acting and thinking as a team, with a strong focus on performance, has brought us to where we are today, namely winning two consecutive Constructors' titles and having two drivers at the top of the championship with two races to go.

"We, as a Team, constantly learn from experience and we calibrate our approach all the time and we will certainly use any information gained through the situation experienced in Vegas," Stella concluded.

As a result of the aforementioned disqualifications, four-time world champion Max Verstappen has considerably cut the gap in the drivers' standings.

Entering the final two rounds of the season, the Dutchman is level on points with Oscar Piastri, and trails Lando Norris by 24 points.

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