McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix due to an irregularity in the thickness of their cars' skid blocks. This benefits Max Verstappen, who won the race and is now just 24 points behind the leader. The FIA stewards' decision has intensified the title fight with two races left.
The Las Vegas Grand Prix, held on Saturday night, saw Max Verstappen secure his sixth victory of the season, one of the most significant of his career. Initially, Lando Norris finished second and Oscar Piastri fourth, positioning Norris to potentially clinch the title at the next race in Qatar. However, an investigation by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) uncovered an irregularity in the McLaren MCL39 cars.
At 23:29 local time, an official FIA document revealed that the thickness of the resin skid block on the underside of both cars did not meet the nine-millimeter minimum required by article 3.5.9 of the technical regulations. This rule had previously led to disqualifications, such as Lewis Hamilton's in the Chinese Grand Prix and Nico Hülkenberg's in Bahrain. The stewards summoned the drivers and McLaren representatives for statements, but the penalty was confirmed at 2:15 a.m., four hours after the race.
With the disqualification, George Russell moved up to second, Kimi Antonelli to third, Carlos Sainz to fifth, and Fernando Alonso remained eleventh. In the drivers' championship, Norris holds the lead with a 24-point advantage over Verstappen and Piastri, who are tied for second, with 58 points still available. The next race is in Qatar, where Verstappen won last year, and the season will end in Abu Dhabi, 15 days later, where Red Bull knows what it's like to celebrate a tense title decider, as in 2021 against Mercedes and Hamilton.
This unexpected twist has revived Verstappen's chances to defend the championship, turning the final stretch into an open battle.