When the checkered flag sealed the end of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Lando Norris seemed to be one step closer to the desired title. However, the championship took a 180-degree turn due to the disqualification of him and his teammate. McLaren, Oscar Piastrifor a technical violation in their cars and the victory of Max Verstappen In the United States it took on another value with two events remaining until the end of the year (Qatar and Abu Dhabi).
The sanction was announced after an investigation that began around midnight in North America and concluded in the early hours of the morning. This way, Norris he lost the 18 points equivalent to his second place and the same thing happened with the 12 units of Piastri with its fourth location. Lando is still the leader (390), but his lead was shortened to 24 points with the detail that Verstappen equaled Oscar (366) in second place in the table.
Before knowing this decision, Verstappen He already warned that he would not give up anything for lost in the final stretch of the year. “All in”wrote the four-time world champion in a message posted on his personal account. instagram for his more than 16 million followers in a clear demonstration that he will bet all his chips on taking the hit, after the McLaren They have shared the lead throughout the calendar. And he completed his message with a congratulations to Red Bull: “Excellent performance, very proud of everyone”.
From now on to the end of the year, there remains a maximum number of 58 points at stake: the 25 corresponding to the winners of the racing races Qatar and Abu Dhabi and the 8 that the winner of the Sprint in Lusail. The magic number of Lando Norris is 425 pointssince that amount would make him unattainable for his direct competitors in the fight for the champion trophy. If he achieves less than that figure, there could be equality at the top and the first tiebreaker criterion lies in the victories of each one, an item that keeps him equal with Piastri (7), while Verstappen asks for permission with 6 wins in the year. If parity persists, the number of second or third places will be evaluated and so on until the maximum record is found.
Under this scenario, McLaren issued a statement on social networks about the mistake that could cost him a drivers’ championship, after having fallen days behind with the constructors’ title. The letter included statements from the director, Andrea Stella: “We apologize to Lando (Norris) and Oscar (Piastri) for the loss of points today, at a crucial moment in their participation in the championship, after two excellent performances throughout the weekend. As a team, we also apologize to our partners and fans, whose support is so important. While this result is extremely disappointing, we remain fully focused on the final two races of the season.”.
He team Briton explained the reasons for the disqualification: “After the Las Vegas Grand Prix, We were declared to have violated Article 3.5.9 of the Technical Regulations, which requires a minimum skid thickness of 9 mm. Car 4 (Norris) violated the limit with a maximum of 0.12 mm in the rear skid and car 81 (Piastri) with a maximum of 0.26 mm in the rear skid”.
The sanction originated when the FIA technical delegates detected that the wear of the resin skates—located in the lower part of the McLaren MCL39— was less than the regulatory minimum. “The rear skids were re-measured in the presence of the Stewards and the three McLaren representatives, and these measurements confirmed that they did not comply with the regulations. The relevant measurements were even lower than those originally obtained by the technical delegate,” states the official FIA report, cited by Formula1.com.
Beyond considering that the infringement was “involuntary”, the stewards’ decision did not give rise to the arguments of the European team: Both cars were excluded from the race classification. This made it possible for mercedes will achieve an outstanding 2-3 to close the podium with George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli. The Silver Arrows They consolidate themselves in second place among constructors with 431 points, Red Bull completes the podium (391), and Ferrari remains fourth (378). The trio is very far from McLaren, the undisputed leader (756) who it did not add units for the first time in 2025.
The victims of this decision also expressed their feelings. The main victim, Lando Norrischose to try to turn the page to focus on what is to come: “A frustrating ending for today. We had to manage it towards the end of the race and now we know that it was due to some problems in our car, which unfortunately led to disqualification. It’s frustrating to lose so many points. As a team, we always strive to achieve the highest possible performance, and we clearly did not achieve that balance today. Nothing I can do will change that now; Instead, I will focus entirely on Qatar, where we will try to go out and deliver the best possible performance in every session.”.
Next, Oscar Piastri He regretted this situation in statements released by the team: “It’s disappointing to end this weekend with no points after an unfortunate disqualification due to skid wear. With how tight the grid is, we always look for where we can gain performance, and this time we didn’t do it well. “Now we need to reset, refocus and push ourselves to get as many points as possible in the last two rounds, both tracks where we have been strong previously.”
After the Las Vegas Grand Prix, we were declared in violation of Article 3.5.9 of the Technical Regulations, which requires a minimum skid thickness of 9 mm. Car 4 violated the limit with a maximum of 0.12 mm in the rear skid and car 81 with a maximum of 0.26 mm in the rear skid.
During the race, both cars experienced an unexpectedly high level of flex, never seen in practice, resulting in excessive contact with the ground. We are investigating the reasons for this behavior, including the effect of accidental damage to both cars, detected after the race, which caused increased ground movement.
(The statements of Andrea Stella, director of McLaren)
“As the FIA noted, the infringement was not intentional, there was no deliberate attempt to circumvent the regulations and there were also extenuating circumstances.”
“We apologize to Lando and Oscar for the loss of points today, at a crucial moment in their participation in the championship, after two excellent performances throughout the weekend. As a team, we also apologize to our partners and fans, whose support is so important”
“While this result is extremely disappointing, we remain fully focused on the final two races of the season.”
- Qatar GP Sprint: Saturday, November 29 at 11:00.
- Qatar GP: Sunday, November 30 at 1:00 p.m.
- Abu Dhabi GP: Sunday, December 7 at 10:00.
