The neon glow of the Las Vegas Strip has always promised fortunes won and lost on the turn of a card, yet few could have predicted the seismic shift in the Formula One World Championship that occurred in the early hours of Sunday morning. On a night that began with a Max Verstappen masterclass on the asphalt, the narrative was violently rewritten in the scrutineering bay. A double disqualification for McLaren, stripping Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri of their hard-earned points, has reignited a title battle that many believed was reaching its conclusion.
While the Dutch champion celebrated a controlled victory under the lights, his rival Lando Norris was dealt a devastating blow. The stewards excluded both McLarens from the results for technical infringements regarding excessive plank wear, wiping away a provisional second-place finish for the Briton and throwing the championship doors wide open with just two rounds remaining.
The drama began long before the stewards intervened. The atmosphere on the grid was electric, with the air temperature hovering around a cool 18 degrees Celsius. Norris, starting from pole position, carried the weight of the championship lead and the expectations of the Woking team. However, as the lights went out, the pressure seemed to tell immediately.
Norris launched well but misjudged his braking point into the tight, left-handed Turn 1. Locking up and running deep into the run-off area, he opened the door for Verstappen. The Red Bull driver, never one to decline such an invitation, dived down the inside to seize a lead he would effectively never relinquish.
The error proved costly for Norris, who not only lost the lead but fell to third as Mercedes’ George Russell swept past around the outside. Behind them, the midfield dissolved into chaos. Oscar Piastri, starting fifth, tangled with the Racing Bulls entry of Liam Lawson, resulting in a puncture for the New Zealander. Further back, a collision involving Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto, Pierre Gasly, and Lance Stroll scattered debris across the track, triggering a Virtual Safety Car on Lap 2 and ending the race for the Aston Martin and Williams’ Alex Albon shortly thereafter.
Once in clean air, Verstappen showcased the form that has defined his era of dominance. While tyre degradation on the abrasive street surface became a critical factor for the field, the Red Bull driver managed his medium compounds with ominous ease.
Mercedes attempted to keep Russell in the fight, but the Briton was hampered by a steering issue carried over from qualifying and severe graining on his front tyres. Norris, having recomposed himself after the Lap 1 blunder, stalked the Mercedes for the opening stint.
The pit stop phase saw diverging strategies. Russell pitted on Lap 18 for hards, rejoining in heavy traffic. Norris followed suit on Lap 22. Verstappen, however, extended his first stint until Lap 26, executing a ruthless ‘overcut’ strategy. He emerged from the pits with fresh medium tyres and a slender one-second advantage over Russell, but with significantly better rubber for the run to the flag.
The pivotal on-track moment for McLaren came on Lap 34. Utilising the Drag Reduction System (DRS) on the blast down the Strip, Norris finally cleared Russell to reclaim second place. His race engineer urged him to “go get Max”, but the gap was already too large. Verstappen cruised to the finish line, taking the chequered flag with a comfortable margin of over 20 seconds. This was primarily caused by Norris’s race engineer instructing him to lift and coast due to low fuel.
As the fireworks erupted over the Bellagio fountains and Red Bull celebrated, a different kind of explosion was brewing in the FIA garage. At 23:29 local time, FIA Technical Delegate Jo Bauer issued a report referring cars 04 (Norris) and 81 (Piastri) to the stewards. The issue was a breach of Article 3.5.9 of the Technical Regulations regarding the skid block, or ‘plank’, beneath the car.
The regulations stipulate a minimum thickness of 9mm for the plank assembly to prevent teams from running their cars too close to the ground for aerodynamic gain. The measurements on the McLarens were damning. Piastri’s rear skids measured just 8.88mm and 8.93mm, while Norris’s car showed similar excessive wear.
In a hearing that stretched into the early morning, McLaren representatives argued that mitigating circumstances were at play. They cited “unexpected porpoising” caused by the unique bumps of the Vegas circuit and limited practice running due to weather disruptions earlier in the weekend. The team contended that the wear was unintentional and a result of environmental factors rather than a deliberate attempt to circumvent the rules.
The stewards, led by Garry Connelly and former F1 driver Vitantonio Liuzzi, were sympathetic but unyielding. Citing precedents, they noted that technical breaches are binary; the car is either legal or it is not. “The Stewards do not consider this sufficient to mitigate the penalty,” the official decision read.
At 01:41 local time, the verdict was delivered. Disqualification for both cars.
The exclusion of the McLarens prompted a radical reshuffle of the final classification. George Russell was promoted to second place, salvaging a strong result for Mercedes. However, the biggest beneficiary was Russell’s teammate, Kimi Antonelli.
The 19-year-old rookie, who had crossed the line in fifth after a mature drive holding off Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, was elevated to third place.
Ferrari also salvaged points from a difficult weekend. Charles Leclerc moved up to fourth, while Carlos Sainz, driving for Williams, was classified fifth, a boon for the British team’s constructors’ tally.
Lewis Hamilton, who had described his 2025 campaign as his “worst season ever” earlier in the weekend, was promoted from 10th to eighth. Despite the points, the seven-time champion remained despondent, lamenting a lack of pace and describing the year as “only getting worse” after struggling with the handling of his Ferrari throughout the weekend.
The ramifications of the Las Vegas Grand Prix are nothing short of catastrophic for McLaren. Lando Norris arrived in Nevada with a commanding lead in the Drivers’ Championship. He leaves with that lead decimated.
Had the results stood, Norris would have lost just seven points to Verstappen. With the disqualification, he loses his entire 18-point haul, while Verstappen pockets the full 25 points for the win. The gap between them has shrunk to just 24 points heading into the penultimate round in Qatar.
The contrast in emotions post-race was stark. Before news of the disqualification broke, Verstappen was already in high spirits. “The car was working well,” he told reporters. “I could stay out longer and split the race. It was quite a decent gap.”
McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella was seen leaving the track deep in conversation with his engineers. The team’s failure to anticipate the high wear rates on the bumpy street circuit has arguably cost them their safety net in the title race.
Formula One now packs up its freight and heads immediately to the Lusail International Circuit in Qatar. The momentum has swung violently back towards Milton Keynes. Verstappen, who looked to be on the back foot just weeks ago, now controls his own destiny again. If he outscores Norris by just two points in Qatar, the title fight will go down to the absolute wire in Abu Dhabi.
Las Vegas promised a show, and it delivered one of the most dramatic twists in modern F1 history. The house always wins, they say, but on this Saturday night, it was Max Verstappen who walked away with the jackpot.
