Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen's shocked reaction revealed after F1 disqualification

Footage has emerged of one of the season's biggest incidents

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Saturday 7 March 2026 21:25

New footage has emerged of Max Verstappen's shocked reaction to a crucial F1 disqualification, thanks to hit show Drive to Survive.

Ahead of the 2026 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, Netflix dropped Season 8 of the docuseries, going through some of 2025's moment dramatic moments.

From Christian Horner's Red Bull exit, to McLaren's double disqualification in Las Vegas, no stone was left unturned and the latter scenario provided unseen footage of Verstappen's reaction.

Article continues under video

Both McLaren stars Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were disqualified from the 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix, after the rearmost skid wear on both MCL39s were found to be below the minimum 9mm thickness by technical delegates on inspection.

The double disqualification had major repercussions leading into the final two rounds of the 2025 season, helping Verstappen narrow the gap to his title rivals.

Verstappen was tied on 366 points with Piastri and 24 points behind Norris, heading into the penultimate race in Qatar.

Verstappen reaction unveiled

The Netflix cameras captured the moment Verstappen discovered the two McLarens had been disqualified, and has recently done the rounds on social media.

When Marko broached the subject, Verstappen responded casually: "Oh yeah, it was at its limit."

Marko then corrected him and said 'below the limit', to which Verstappen couldn't conceal his shock.

"Oh? they were below the limit," Verstappen asked. Marko replied: "The second check is in there."

Will 2026 cars solve plank wear problem?

In 2025, there were concerns over plank wear with the new 2026 cars, particularly if cars are in high downforce mode, with the forces on the car pushing it to the ground and increasing the risk of wearing the plank away.

Williams team principal James Vowles told The Race last year that: "It doesn't sound really exciting or important, but we're going to be running the cars low, and if you disable straightline mode and it dries up, you're just basically going to wear through the front of the car.

"So there's some details like that we've got to get into and fix, but we will do it."

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Max Verstappen McLaren Lando Norris Oscar Piastri Las Vegas Grand Prix