Norris and Piastri Disqualified from 2025 Las Vegas GP

McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have been disqualified from the 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix, in-turn allowing Max Verstappen to cut his title deficit.

Norris arrived in Las Vegas with a 24-point lead over Piastri whilst Red Bull’s Verstappen found himself 49 points behind the Brit but Norris finished the race second to Verstappen, which saw the reigning four-time champion cut his title deficit down to 42 points.

Norris’ title lead over Piastri meanwhile had grown to 30 points before stewards summoned both drivers and McLaren to their office, after the skid planks on both cars were found to had failed to meet the minimum thickness requirement of 9mm under Article 3.5.9.e of the technical regulations.

Norris and Piastri’s skid planks were both measured at 8.88mm at the front and 8.93mm at the rear, with McLaren having argued that the weather, porpoising and red flags in practice had caused an ‘unintentional’ breach of regulations.

Stewards accepted their argument but iterated that there was no provision other than disqualification for technical breaches of this scenario.

Following data analysis and input from both drivers and team, stewards consequently disqualified Norris and Piastri from the official classification, which meant that Piastri’s title deficit was returned to 24 points but Verstappen’s win moved him level on points with Piastri.

The McLaren driver however remained second in the standings on countback with seven Grands Prix victories to Verstappen’s six, because sprint results are not included in F1’s countback system in the event of a tie.

F1 now turns its attention to the penultimate round of the season which takes place in Qatar from 28 – 30 November, and marks the final sprint weekend of the season.

Should Verstappen and Piastri both stay within 25 points of Norris come the conclusion of the Qatar round, it would mark the first time since 2010 that more than two drivers entered the season finale with a chance at the title – with four drivers having been in contention in 2010 won by Sebastian Vettel.

The 2025 season finale will be held at Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi from 5 – 7 December.