McLaren is confident the porpoise problems that led to its two disqualifications at the Las Vegas Grand Prix will not be repeated in Qatar this weekend.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri missed out on second and fourth place finishes, respectively, last Sunday when they were removed from the results hours after the race due to excessive wear on their skid blocks.
Norris maintains his title lead with two races to go, but Red Bull rival Max Verstappen is now within 24 points of him, with the Dutchman now on the same points total as Piastri.
In a Q&A published by the team on Thursday, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said the car suffered an “unexpected outbreak of widespread porpoise” that included “significant vertical oscillations” during the 50-lap grand prix.
Stella said the problem was “made worse by the conditions in which the cars operate during the race, and that attempts to alleviate the problem by having drivers ‘lift and coast’ at the end of straights actually proved to be ‘counterproductive'” in some areas of the street track.
“The conditions we experienced last weekend, which resulted in porpoising and excessive ground contact compared to expectations, were very specific to the operating range of the car and the characteristics of the circuit in Las Vegas.
“We have an established and integrated way of setting up the car and we are confident that this will lead to an optimal plan for the next race starting at Lusail International Circuit.”
“Nonetheless, we learned from every lesson, and the lessons in Las Vegas were able to provide valuable information regarding working car windows and porpoise occurrence.”
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Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have been disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix after both McLaren drivers failed post-race inspection.
“It’s fair to say we didn’t take enough risks.” – DSQ driver
Teams usually try to run their cars as low as possible to the ground to gain downforce, but for safety reasons they have to meet the stipulation that the skid block on the lower plate must not wear less than 9mm.
However, since Sunday there has been speculation that McLaren’s pursuit of performance may have led to it breaking the rules by setting up the car incorrectly in Las Vegas, but the team denied this was the case.
“What happened in Las Vegas was not the result of an excessive or unreasonable pursuit of performance, but rather an abnormality in the behavior of the car,” Stella said.
Speaking to the media late Thursday in Qatar ahead of this weekend’s Sprint weekend, both Norris and Piastri suggested the situation is not as simple as widely thought.
“It’s not just because I wasn’t fit enough. Sometimes it’s the opposite,” Norris said, adding: “In some ways, you could say I didn’t take enough risks.”
“It’s not as simple as looking at it and saying, ‘Oh, they did that, that’s why they’re fast.’ In fact, they didn’t get faster because of the problem, they got slower.
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Oscar Piastri reveals the cause of his double DSQ in Las Vegas and says he’s still optimistic he can win the world championship.
“I’m excited to get even better heading into this weekend because I expect more performances.”
Norris, who holds a 24-point lead in the championship, still has his first chance to win his first F1 title at Sunday’s Grand Prix, but added: “When you’re fighting for race wins in F1 with any team, you always have to push to the limit.
“That doesn’t mean it’s exactly the same as what we did in Las Vegas, because it’s more complicated. We want to win the last few races, but we have to push everything to the limit as always, because Red Bull are just as fast. If we don’t keep things right, like in Brazil, they are faster than us and they will win.”
Piastri also said McLaren had actually “taken safety precautions” with the MCL39’s ride height after a red flag in the second session last Friday led to a lack of practice time.
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Craig Slater explains how Lando Norris was able to win his first world title at the Qatar Grand Prix.
“We try to maximize the ride height as much as possible,” says Piastri.
“The main way to improve the performance of these cars, especially in Las Vegas, is to fit them in the right window.
“That’s important in Las Vegas because the long straights and the many slow corners mean the difference in ride height between different speed ranges is quite large. But we weren’t worried about anything.
“We obviously haven’t had that much practice. It wasn’t the easiest to get readings, but obviously it was the same for everyone. What we didn’t expect was how many porpoises occurred during the race.”
“I didn’t take any particular risks and I actually played it safe because I hadn’t practiced that much, but something unexpected just happened.”
‘It sucks, but that’s life’ – Norris optimistic about goals conceded
Norris, who finished second behind Verstappen last Sunday but two places ahead of Piastri, briefly held a championship lead of 30 points over his teammate and 42 points over the Dutchman.
McLaren’s disqualification reduced the Brit’s advantage over his rival to 24 points.
However, Norris said there was no point in getting too upset about the situation, saying he was focused on getting back to winning ways in the final two races to seal his first F1 title.
“To be honest, it was totally fine,” he said.
“(Being angry) doesn’t help. I already had some expectation that it might happen because of what I had to do in the race, so it wasn’t a shock, it wasn’t a surprise.
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Craig Slater explains how Lando Norris was able to win his first world title at the Qatar Grand Prix.
“We knew that there were far more issues than expected during the race, so there was already an expectation that some things might not go as expected.
“It would have hurt more if we had won the race, but we didn’t win so nothing changes, there’s no need to be too sad.
“Obviously everyone on the team was a little disappointed with the result, because a lot of effort goes into it, and it’s the same for everyone, but 0.1mm is like a piece of paper. So it was frustrating, but I was totally fine.”
“I’m excited to go again this weekend, but nothing changes. I want to win in Qatar and I want to win in Abu Dhabi.
“It sucks, but sometimes that happens in life.”
Sky Sports F1 Qatar GP Schedule
Thursday, November 27th
3:00 p.m.: Drivers’ press conference
6pm: Paddock Uncut
Friday, November 28th
11:05am: F2 practice
1:00pm: Qatar GP Practice (Session starts at 1:30pm)*
3:30pm: Team boss press conference
4:05pm: F2 Qualifying*
4:50pm: Qatar GP Sprint Qualifying (session starts at 5:30pm)*
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A look back at some of the most dramatic moments that happened at the Qatar Grand Prix.
Saturday, November 29th
1pm: Qatar GP Sprint build-up*
2pm: Qatar GP Sprint*
3:30pm: Ted’s Sprint Notebook*
4:15pm: F2 Sprint
5:15pm: Qatar GP qualifying build-up
6pm: Qatar GP Qualifying
8pm: Ted’s Qualification Notebook
Sunday, November 30th
11:55am: F2 Special
2:30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Qatar GP Build-up
4pm: Qatar Grand Prix
6pm: Checkered flag: Qatar GP reaction
7pm: Ted’s Notes
*Also held at Sky Sports Main Event
F1’s season-ending triple header continues with the Qatar Grand Prix Sprint weekend, which will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1 from Friday. Stream Sky Sports now – cancel anytime with no contract
