McLaren has issued a detailed media report featuring Andrea Stella’s answers about the controversial double disqualification in Las Vegas. The team principal not only revisited the incident but also looked ahead to the final two Formula 1 races of the season, starting with this weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix. It is clear that the FIA will keep a particularly close eye on the MCL39 after what happened in Nevada.
McLaren: learning from Las Vegas to avoid further ride height errors
For this very reason, the Woking-based team cannot afford any more mistakes if it wants to keep both world championships within reach. Max Verstappen is only 24 points behind Lando Norris and is showing no intention of easing off. That means McLaren must approach all technical operations with precision, especially when it comes to ride height management. So, could the team adopt a more conservative setup in Qatar? Stella addressed this directly.
“What happened in Las Vegas was due to an anomaly in the car’s behaviour, rather than the result of an excessive or unreasonable search for performance. Our way of operating and thinking as a team, with a strong performance-driven mindset, is what has brought us here today: two consecutive constructors’ titles, with two drivers leading the championship with two races to go,” Stella explained.
He then added: “We as a team constantly learn from experience and continuously recalibrate our approach; we will certainly use every piece of information gained from the situation we faced in Las Vegas.” In other words, there was no firm “no” to the idea of adjustments—only a clear intention to learn and better understand the MCL39’s operational window.
At this level of motorsport, errors form part of the natural development process. McLaren’s back-to-back world championships are the result of careful, methodical work. The team conducted an in-depth investigation, and the FIA confirmed that the excessive plank wear was caused by unexpected and unusually strong vertical oscillations.
Stella reassures McLaren fans: the setup methodology remains solid
With that clarified, Stella believes there should be no reason to face the same issues in Qatar. He noted: “The conditions we experienced last weekend, which led to the onset of porpoising and excessive bottoming compared to what was expected, are very specific to the car’s operating window in Las Vegas and to the characteristics of the circuit.”
The team principal emphasised another important point: “We have a well-established and consolidated method for setting up the car, and we are confident that it will lead us to an optimal plan for the upcoming races, starting with the Lusail International Circuit. However, we learn from every lesson, and the one from Las Vegas gave us useful information about the car’s usage window and its porpoising regime.”
MCL39: potential limitations linked to ride heights to avoid risks
Every circuit presents its own challenges and requires a different setup philosophy. McLaren made it clear that the Las Vegas issue was mainly due to the very limited practice running, which prevented the team from detecting these limitations early. Stella also admitted that during the race they already understood what they were facing, but there was no realistic way to reduce the bottoming.
Andrea Stella remains optimistic ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix, though his remarks also suggest a careful and measured approach during the single hour of free practice available. He acknowledged that it is standard procedure to “adopt a safety margin for qualifying and the race.”
This, naturally, relates to ride height choices. It cannot be ruled out that McLaren will widen this margin to ensure the car operates safely and consistently, even if that means sacrificing some pure performance. Such a precaution would be especially costly at Losail, where lap time is highly sensitive to the downforce generated by the floor.
Expect the orange cars to sit a touch higher than maximum-attack mode under the Lusail floodlights – a small price to pay for bringing the Drivers’ crown home.
Leave a Reply