McLaren’s predicament is not an uncommon situation in F1.
Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari was disqualified from the Chinese Grand Prix at the start of the season for the same reason, as well as the 2023 US Grand Prix when he was at Mercedes, along with Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari in the same race.
George Russell’s Mercedes was disqualified from victory in Belgium last season for being underweight – partly because the underfloor wore down more than the team expected.
It happens because teams generally want to run their cars as low as possible, because the lower they are, the more aerodynamic downforce they create, so the faster the lap time.
Entering any race is something of a guessing game, and the more data a team has before deciding their ride-height prior to qualifying, the more accurate the calculation can be and the less risk the team faces.
The fewer data a team has before a race, the harder the decision about where to set the ride-height. And Las Vegas was exactly the sort of weekend on which a team can get into trouble.
The second practice session, when teams gather a lot of their race data on a heavy fuel load, was disrupted by two red flags, and no-one did what is known as a race-simulation run.
That would mean that the data on which the teams base their ride-heights was severely limited.
Then, final practice and qualifying on Friday were wet, so the cars would be slower and therefore have less downforce acting on them and not wear the floor as much as if it was dry.
In addition, the Las Vegas track is bumpy, and the speeds on the long straight along the Strip are high, further increasing floor wear.
Add all that together, and mistakes can happen.
