Plank wear fears after McLaren’s Las Vegas disqualifications raise scrutiny at the Qatar GP. Punters: favour conservative bets — back Red Bull/Mercedes in podium/top‑6 markets and avoid outright punts on McLaren; Russell podium bets may offer value if rivals face further penalties.
Russell reports “smell of wood” as plank‑wear debate intensifies ahead of Qatar GP
Mercedes driver George Russell raised eyebrows in Friday practice at Lusail when he told his team over the radio that he could “smell a lot of wood” from the cockpit, a comment that fed into growing concern about plank wear and grounding ahead of the penultimate round of the F1 season.
McLaren Las Vegas disqualifications cast long shadow
Both McLaren drivers, who originally finished second and fourth in Las Vegas, were excluded after post‑race scrutineering found excessive plank wear. The exclusions promoted Russell and Mercedes teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli to second and third in Nevada and have placed additional focus on ride height and porpoising as teams arrive in Qatar.
Practice snapshot: McLaren pace, Mercedes recovery needed
McLaren looked slick in FP1 at Lusail, with Oscar Piastri topping team‑mate Lando Norris by 0.058 seconds. Russell, by contrast, was 14th, exactly nine tenths off the pace. With Qatar the final sprint event of the season, teams had a single hour of practice to dial in setups ahead of sprint qualifying.
Sprint format and setup windows
The sprint weekend format leaves little time for troubleshooting. A rule tweak introduced last season relaxes parc fermé restrictions between the sprint race and the main qualifying session, allowing teams to make setup adjustments — a vital allowance if grounding or porpoising threats reappear after practice.
McLaren response: porpoising blamed for Vegas anomaly
McLaren’s team principal Andrea Stella described the Las Vegas outcome as the result of “extensive porpoising” and characterised it as an anomaly tied to the street circuit’s operating window. He insisted the issue was circuit‑specific rather than the result of an aggressive chase for performance, and said the team would apply lessons learned to its preparations in Lusail.
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Betting outlook
Punters should weigh the off‑track risk to McLaren when shaping stakes: avoid large outright wagers on McLaren until reliability and plank readings stabilise. Markets offering value now include conservative podium or top‑6 bets on Red Bull and Mercedes, while Russell podium bets could pay off if further penalties or grounding issues affect rivals.
George Russell was on high alert in FP1 at the Qatar Grand Prix.
Planet F1