McLaren’s radio conduct in Las Vegas has been thrust under forensic scrutiny as a theory gains momentum suggesting their instructions to Lando Norris were intentionally cryptic. What initially sounded like routine fuel management chatter is now being recast as a covert attempt to shield the car from an impending regulatory breach. The revelation has poured more gasoline on an already explosive post-race narrative.
The championship context only heightens the chaos. With Norris leading Piastri and Verstappen by a slim margin heading into the final stretch of the season, every tactical choice carries seismic weight. Verstappen’s Vegas victory revived his long-shot title push, while McLaren’s double disqualification detonated the team’s momentum. What should have been a weekend of consolidation instead spiraled into controversy.
A curious “red herring” theory has now emerged, driven by analysis from Scott Mitchell-Malm. He argues that the lift-and-coast instructions given to both McLaren drivers weren’t about fuel at all—despite team radio suggesting exactly that—but were an encrypted effort to mitigate accelerated plank wear. The messages, in this version of events, were a stealth warning rather than a standard strategic call, an effort to save legality without ever mentioning legality.
The consequences of that alleged codework were brutal. Both Norris and Piastri were thrown out of the results, paving the way for a reshuffled podium that elevated 19-year-old Kimi Antonelli and George Russell. Meanwhile, McLaren team boss Andrea Stella surfaced to issue apologies and insist the breach was accidental, not a calculated attempt to game the rules. He framed the situation as an unfortunate cocktail of circumstances rather than malpractice.
Yet the discussion refuses to die down. Every line of radio, every hint of hesitation, every ambiguous instruction is being dissected for hidden meaning. What began as a messy weekend for McLaren has metastasized into one of the season’s most contentious episodes—an uncomfortable spotlight in a championship battle already teetering on a knife edge.
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