Why Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri could be disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix
Lando Norris and his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri could be disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix because their cars broke technical rules.
After the race, officials found that the skid blocks under both cars were worn down too much. This usually leads to disqualification, and the case has now been passed to the race stewards.
If Norris and Piastri are removed from the results, Norris — who finished second behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen — would still hold a 24-point lead over both Verstappen and Piastri before next weekend’s race in Qatar.
McLaren boss Andrea Stella delayed his post-race press conference, and the team has not yet answered questions from the media.
There are 58 points still available across the final two races, with Qatar hosting a sprint weekend. The last race of the season takes place in Abu Dhabi on 7 December.
Verstappen keeps title hopes alive
Norris started the race from pole and said before the start that he was “not here to avoid risks”. He tried hard to defend his lead from Verstappen, but he braked too late and ran wide at the first corner. Verstappen slipped past him, and Norris also lost second place to George Russell.
Two early virtual safety cars slowed the race, including one after Piastri was hit by Liam Lawson. But Verstappen gradually took control at the front.
Russell pitted early for hard tyres, while Norris and Verstappen stayed out longer. Norris stopped five laps after Russell, and Verstappen stopped 10 laps later. Despite this, Verstappen kept the lead, as Russell could not catch him even on fresher tyres.
Norris rejoined behind Russell but soon closed a 3.3-second gap and overtook him for second on lap 34. Norris then asked his race engineer whether he should push or hold position, and was told to “go and get Max”. But Verstappen was too fast, and later in the race Norris developed a technical problem that slowed him down.
Even though he lost almost three seconds per lap, Norris still stayed ahead of Russell because he had built up a big gap earlier.
Verstappen took his sixth win of the year, putting him just one victory behind both McLaren drivers. He still has a small mathematical chance of becoming champion, but he needs Norris to have problems in both remaining races.
Verstappen said: “It’s still a big gap. We always try to get the most from what we have. We will try to win the next races and see where we finish.”
A difficult race for Piastri
Piastri started fifth but dropped two places after being hit by Lawson at the first corner. Lawson later had to retire because of damage to his front wing.
Piastri spent the first 15 laps stuck behind Isack Hadjar before passing him on the Strip. He later lost a place to Charles Leclerc but took it back during the pit stops.
The Australian then ended up behind Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli, who did almost the whole race on hard tyres. Antonelli received a five-second penalty for a start-line infringement, although it was not clear on TV replays.
Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live: “It was a frustrating race from start to finish.” Looking ahead to the final two races, he added: “I need a lot of things to go my way to win now, but all I can do is put myself in the best position if something happens.”
Leclerc finished sixth, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli’s penalty. Carlos Sainz came seventh in his Williams, the car no longer competitive in dry conditions after his strong wet-weather qualifying.
Hadjar finished eighth, ahead of Nico Hülkenberg and Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton made a great start, jumping to 13th on the first lap and continuing to gain places. He got stuck in a DRS train but still managed to take the final point after the worst qualifying session of his career.
