‘Excessive porpoising’ is the cause of McLaren’s double disqualification in Las Vegas | RACER

McLaren team boss Andrea Stella has blamed the team’s double disqualification in Las Vegas on unexpected porpoises that could not be dealt with during the race, but expressed confidence that the problem will not be repeated in the final two rounds of the F1 season.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri initially finished second and fourth in Las Vegas, before a post-race inspection revealed that the skid blocks under both cars were less than the required minimum thickness of 9mm. As a result, race winner Max Verstappen goes into this weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix tied for second with Piastri in the points, while Norris has a 24-point lead.

“What happened in Vegas was due to an anomaly in the car’s behavior, and not the result of an excessive or unreasonable pursuit of performance,” Stella said.

“The specific cause that led to the situation was the unexpected occurrence of extensive porpoising, which induced large vertical vibrations of the car. The level of porpoising was exacerbated by the conditions in which the car was operating during the race, and this was not expected based on what we had seen in practice and based on the predictions of the car’s operating window during the race.

“Based on the data we collected in practice, we do not believe we took excessive risks in terms of ride height and we also added a safety margin for qualifying and the race, compared to practice, in terms of distance to the ground. However, the safety margin was offset by the unexpected onset of large vertical vibrations, which caused the car to hit the ground.”

“The porpoise condition that the car developed during the race was also difficult to mitigate, as even a reduction in speed – an action which in theory should increase the distance to the ground – was only effective in some parts of the circuit, but was even counterproductive in others.

“From the first laps of the race it was clear from the data that the level of unexpected porpoises would be a problem. We were able to better monitor the situation on Lando’s car using telemetry data, but it was made more difficult on Oscar’s car after we lost one of the sensors we use to determine the level of grounding.

“We realized relatively quickly that this level of porpoising was causing a high level of skid wear energy and this is why both drivers began to take remedial action on different parts of the track. Unfortunately, we also saw that, due to the car’s operating window and the track characteristics, most of these actions were not effective enough in reducing porpoising.

“The conditions we experienced last weekend, which resulted in porpoising and excessive stalling, compared to what was expected, are very specific to the car’s operational period in Vegas and the track characteristics. We have an established and consolidated way of setting up the car and we are confident that this will lead us to an optimal plan for the upcoming races, starting at the Lusail International Circuit.

“Nevertheless, we learn from every lesson and the one in Las Vegas was able to provide useful information about the car’s operating window and porpoise regime.”

While McLaren faces a bigger threat from Verstappen this weekend than if the Vegas results had held, Stella insists the team will not change its approach to the Drivers’ Championship while both drivers are locked in a mathematical battle.

“No, there is no reason for that [change approach]Stella said: “We have always said that as long as the math doesn’t say otherwise, we would leave it to the two drivers to fight for their chance at overall victory, and that’s how it will be in Qatar.

“Let’s not forget that if someone had told us at the beginning of the season that we would find ourselves in this situation with two races to go, we would have signed up for it! Now we will fight for the double world championship with confidence and awareness of our strength.”

“Our way of acting and thinking as a team, with a strong focus on performance, has gotten us to where we are today: winning two consecutive constructors’ titles and having two drivers at the top of the championship with two races remaining.

“We as a team are constantly learning from experience and we are constantly fine-tuning our approach. We will certainly use all the information we have gained from the situation in Vegas.”