Max Verstappen has won big in Vegas thanks to the double disqualification of his McLaren rivals Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix.
The FIA handed down its shock decision after finding excessive wear on the rear skid plates of both McLarens, stripping Norris of second place and Piastri of fourth—in doing so, significantly altering the race for the 2025 drivers championship with just two grand pix remaining.
McLaren has since released a statement expressing frustration with the outcome that sees both drivers lose all points from the race, but it seems there will be no challenge, at least not for now.
“During the race, both cars experienced unexpected, high levels of porpoising not seen in the Practice sessions, which led to excessive contact with the ground,” explained McLaren team boss Andrea Stella.
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“We are investigating the reasons for this behaviour of the car, including the effect of accidental damage sustained by both cars, which we found after the race, and that led to an increase of movement of the floor.
“We apologise to Lando and Oscar for the loss of points today at a critical time in their Championship campaigns after two strong performances from them all weekend.”
‘We clearly didn’t get that balance right today’ laments Lando Norris
Undoubtedly the biggest loser of the DQ decision is 2025 drivers championship leader Lando Norris, who has seen his margin over the resurgent Max Verstappen now reduced to just 24 points.
“It’s frustrating to lose so many points. As a team, we’re always pushing to find as much performance as we can, and we clearly didn’t get that balance right today,” Norris commented.
McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri was equally as frustrated, acknowledging the razor fine margins between success and failure in Formula One.
“Disappointing … given how close the grid is we’re always looking at where we can gain performance and we didn’t get it right this time,” Piastri said.
Ironically, while both McLaren drivers were disqualified the result means Piastri actually ends the weekend closer to Norris in the drivers championship title race than when he crossed the finish line in Las Vegas.