F1 heads to Qatar after Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri’s disqualifications from Las Vegas GP
Follow the latest news and reaction from the Las Vegas Grand Prix as both McLaren cars fell foul of technical rules
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were both disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix in a dramatic incident that could have lasting ramifications for the 2025 F1 title race.
The post-race development means Max Verstappen, who won in Vegas, is now just 24 points behind championship leader Norris and moves level on points with Piastri with two rounds remaining. Norris had initially extended his lead to his McLaren teammate Piastri to 30 points after finishing second in Vegas, with the Australian only coming home in fourth place.
Yet post-race analysis of both McLaren cars from the FIA found excessive skid plank wear on both cars, with the minimum thickness falling below the 9mm threshold. As a result, the matter was referred to the stewards, who disqualified both cars from the race classification.
It means Norris now only has a 24-point advantage with two rounds – Qatar and Abu Dhabi – remaining and 58 points, courtesy of the sprint race in Qatar, still left to play for.
Follow all the latest news and reaction below:
Why were Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix?
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were both disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix in a dramatic moment in the 2025 F1 title race.
Norris finished the Vegas race in second, with Max Verstappen winning the grand prix and Oscar Piastri down in fourth. Norris had extended his lead to 30 points as a result.
However, in a massive post-race development, both McLaren cars were under investigation from the FIA for excessive plank wear. Then, the matter was referred to the stewards, who duly dished out a crushing double disqualification for McLaren.
Why were Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix?
Lewis Hamilton told to ‘calm down’ by Ferrari boss after criticising his own performance in Las Vegas GP
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has urged Lewis Hamilton to "calm down" following the seven-time world champion’s latest public critique of his own performance.
Hamilton recently described his inaugural season with the Italian outfit as the worst of his 19-year career, a sentiment expressed in the wake of a challenging Las Vegas Grand Prix where he qualified last.
Lewis Hamilton told to ‘calm down’ by Ferrari boss after Las Vegas GP
Piastri echoes Norris over 'disappointing' Vegas result
“Disappointing to come away from this weekend with no points after an unfortunate disqualification due to skid wear,” McLaren’s Oscar Piastri said.
“With how close the grid is, we’re always looking at where we can gain performance, and we didn’t get it right this time.
“We now need to reset, refocus and push to get the best points possible in the final two rounds, both tracks that we've been strong at previously."
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Norris reacts to frustrating Las Vegas GP
Lando Norris has accepted the “frustrating” disqualification from the Las Vegas Grand Prix due to skid wear issues on this McLaren F1 car.
“We had to do some managing towards the end of the race and now we know it was due to some issues on our car, which have unfortunately resulted in us being disqualified,” Norris said.
“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.
“Nothing I can do will change that now, instead full focus switches to Qatar, where we'll aim to go out and deliver the best possible performance in every session.”
When can Lando Norris win the 2025 F1 world championship?
Lando Norris is still in position to win the 2025 F1 world championship despite disqualification from the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
After disqualification in Las Vegas, Norris’ lead to both Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen is down to 24 points.
A points advantage of more than 25 points by the end of the Qatar Grand Prix would see him win the title with one race to spare.
When can Lando Norris win the 2025 F1 world championship?
Why were Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix?
Norris and Piastri were punished for an illegal post-race car, with the thickness of the plank, which is underneath the car, below the required 9mm thickness as per the FIA regulations.
The skid wear is monitored so teams don’t run their cars too low to the ground for a performance benefit.
The stewards’ verdict revealed that the plank-wear was 0.12mm over the limit for Norris’s car and 0.26mm for Piastri’s car. McLaren argued that unexpected porpoising, when the car bounces violently up and down, limited testing opportunities due to rain on Thursday night and shortened practice sessions in Vegas gave them mitigating circumstances.
FIA branded ‘shocking’ after another near-miss with F1 marshals in Las Vegas
The FIA were under fire again after another close shave with marshals on track at the start of the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
After Liam Lawson narrowly missed two marshals at the Mexico City GP last month, F1’s governing body will have more questions to answer after the incident on lap two in Vegas.
Following clashes on track at the start of the race at turn one, pieces of debris needed to be cleared on track.
FIA branded ‘shocking’ after another near-miss with F1 marshals in Las Vegas
Lando Norris hit by McLaren’s all-time F1 screw-up but one move can still save title dream
The first sign that something was amiss, under the bamboozling lightshow that is the Las Vegas strip, came in the final three laps. Out of nowhere, why was Lando Norris’s pace dropping off at a rate of knots?
Safely in second place, seven seconds behind the race leader, Norris eventually finished 23 seconds off Max Verstappen. Now, we know why.
Norris’s shock disqualification from the Las Vegas Grand Prix, announced just after 1.30am local time, has handed his F1 title rivals the biggest of reprieves.
Lando Norris hit by McLaren’s all-time screw-up but one move can save title dream
McLaren apologise to Norris and Piastri
McLaren’s disqualification from the Las Vegas GP was not an ‘intentional’ breach of the rules according to the FIA but both cars were found to be outside the parameters of Article 3.5.9 of the Technical Regulations.
The team sent their apologies to both drivers but reiterated their focus for the rest of the campaign.
A statement from McLaren said: “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.
“As a team, we also apologise to our partners and fans, whose support means so much.
“While this outcome is extremely disappointing, we remain fully focused on the last two races of the season.”
McLaren pinpoint reason behind rules breach
McLaren have apologised to Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri after both drivers were disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix in a dramatic moment in the 2025 F1 title race.
The Papaya also detailed the reason behind the rules breach after the FIA found excessive skid plank wear on both cars, with the minimum thickness falling below the 9mm threshold.
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