Las Vegas Grand Prix: “Lando Norris is still a strong title contender but Max Verstappen is right in the game”

McLaren’s predicament is not an unusual situation in Formula One.

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton was excluded from the Chinese Grand Prix at the beginning of the season for the same reason, as well as from the 2023 United States Grand Prix when he was at Mercedes, along with Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc in the same race.

George Russell’s Mercedes was ruled out of victory in Belgium last season due to being underweight – partly because the ground was worn more than the team expected.

This happens because teams generally want to run their cars as low as possible, because the lower they go, the more aerodynamic force they create, and therefore the faster the lap time.

Entering any race is a guessing game, and the more data a team has before determining its ride altitude before qualifying, the more accurate the calculation and the less risk the team faces.

The less data a team has before the race, the more difficult it is to make the decision on where to adjust the ride height. Las Vegas was exactly the weekend where the team could run into trouble.

The second practice session, when teams collect much of their race data on a heavy fuel load, was disrupted by two red flags, and no one did what is known as a simulator race.

This meant that the data the teams relied on for their ride heights was very limited.

Then, the final qualifying on Friday was wet, so the cars will be slower and therefore have less downforce and the ground won’t wear as much as if it were dry.

In addition, the Las Vegas track is bumpy, and speeds on the long straight track along the strip are high, which increases floor wear.

Add it all together, and mistakes can happen.