{"id":365721,"date":"2025-12-23T01:54:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T01:54:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/365721\/"},"modified":"2025-12-23T01:54:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T01:54:10","slug":"max-verstappen-comments-on-plank-wear-disqualification-mclaren-double-dnf-las-vegas-grand-prix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/365721\/","title":{"rendered":"Max Verstappen comments on plank wear disqualification, McLaren double DNF Las Vegas Grand Prix"},"content":{"rendered":"

Four-time world champion Max Verstappen<\/a> has sparked fresh debate over Formula 1<\/a>‘s technical policing, claiming that “half the cars” on the grid would likely be in breach of plank wear limits after races. <\/p>\n

His comments follow a chaotic season with four cars disqualified after grands prix for the technical breach, including a double DNF for McLaren in Las Vegas<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The paddock has consistently argued the trickiness of random FIA testing post-race, questioning the consistency and fairness of chance protocols. Each car is weighed after every race, but only a select few are taken for skid wear testing, meaning teams can gamble on their luck.<\/p>\n

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Despite the controversy, Verstappen admitted that the Las Vegas disqualifications of his rivals were “positive” for his campaign.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The 2025 championship was blown open after McLaren’s double disqualification. \u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

With both McLaren<\/a> drivers stripped of their points, the drivers’ championship was blown wide open, setting the stage for a showdown in Abu Dhabi<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Australian Oscar Piastri<\/a> conceded second place in the championship to Verstappen, and the disqualification was one of the key points where he lost his edge to the Red Bull<\/a> driver.<\/p>\n

“That was an early Christmas present for me,” Verstappen told Viaplay.<\/p>\n

“It at least made it a bit more exciting. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have talked about Abu Dhabi being so close.<\/p>\n

“For Formula 1, I think it was positive \u2013 and for me.”<\/p>\n

But he also bluntly admitted that the reality of car setups suggested that teams frequently gamble on ride height to gain performance.<\/p>\n

He said that if the FIA checked all twenty cars on track, rather than selecting only a handful for scrutiny, they would find more drivers with illegal wear on their skid blocks. <\/p>\n

\"McLaren<\/p>\n

McLaren ended up with zero points scored in Las Vegas. \u00a0LAT Images<\/p>\n

“Of course, you always try to find the limit. We all do,” Verstappen said.<\/p>\n

“And sometimes you get away with it\u2026 you’re not always checked.<\/p>\n

“I think if you check that every race, then half of them are definitely under.”<\/p>\n

But, while some have argued for every car to be inspected to ensure a level playing field, Verstappen conceded that the logistical burden of requiring a massive influx of technical personnel at every race makes a one-hundred per cent check-rate impossible.<\/p>\n

“No,” he said of the FIA’s ability to check every car, “then you’d need a lot of people; that’s just not possible”.<\/p>\n

But not all agree.<\/p>\n

Williams driver Alex Albon spoke to media in the immediate aftermath of McLaren’s disqualification and admitted that the current system invites teams to risk illegal setups for gaining points.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The FIA scrutineering garage has been a mainstay in the Formula 1 grid. \u00a0LAT Images<\/p>\n

“I mean…we could run these things to the deck if we wanted to and have no legality issues, but then we’re all finding illegal performance,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I think the main thing for me is, I don’t like that it’s random.<\/p>\n

“I’d almost rather have 20 cars get checked every weekend, and then you’d have a fair game, but it’s that randomly selected version that’s a bit tricky.<\/p>\n

“But yeah, I mean, rules are rules.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Four-time world champion Max Verstappen has sparked fresh debate over Formula 1‘s technical policing, claiming that “half the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":365722,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,813,816,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-365721","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-formula-1","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-f1","11":"tag-formula-1","12":"tag-formula1","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=365721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365721\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/365722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}