Las Vegas
The Las Vegas GP weekend had a twist in the tale as late on Saturday evening the FIA confirmed that the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri had both been disqualified after finishing second and fourth respectively.
This sensational development turned the World Championship battle on its head by presenting race winner Max Verstappen with a huge bonus, as he chances of stealing the title increased dramatically.
After two frustrating races by his standards in Mexico and Brazil saw him take a pair of third places Verstappen bounced back in style. He lost pole to Norris in a dramatic wet qualifying session, but outfoxed the Englishman at the start to jump in the lead.
Thereafter he drove a faultless race to log his sixth win of the season. There was nothing more he could do. However with Norris finishing second he only reduced the margin from 49 points to 42 – until McLaren’s misfortune gave him a helping hand.
Norris did a great job to take pole, and after his bad first lap saw him drop to third he passed George Russell to take second. He had a go at chasing the leader, but in the end he backed off to bag 18 crucial points – it was the sort of percentage drive that wins championships. He also increased his margin on Piastri, who qualified fifth and could manage only fourth in the race after being hit by Liam Lawson at the start. However in the hours after the race everything changed.
After the race FIA officials found that the plank or skid underneath the car – a device to stop teas gaining performance by running their cars close to the ground – had been worn more than the prescribed limit on both of the McLarens, albeit by a tiny fraction.
It wasn’t a deliberate attempt at cheating, just a miscalculation impacted by the cars behaving differently and hitting the ground more than anticipated over the 50-lap race. It was a black and white offence that always leads to disqualification, despite McLaren’s claims of mitigating circumstances.
Norris now has 390 points, while Piastri and Verstappen are both on 366. With 58 still to be won at the last two events it really can still go in any direction, and with nothing to lose Verstappen will be a formidable competitor.
Outside the title contenders it was a good day for Mercedes, with 2024 Vegas winner George Russell finishing a solid third on the road, before inheriting second place. However it was his team mate Kimi Antonelli who caught the attention.
Only 17th on the grid after the tricky wet qualifying session, he made a very early pitstop to give himself clean air, and thereafter drove a marathon 48-laps to the flag on the hard tyre. Alas he picked up a 5-second penalty for a barely discernible jumped start, which cost him a place to Piastri. When the McLarens were kicked out he moved up from his initial fifth to third. After Brazil this was another indication that the Italian teenager is really hitting his stride.
It was a tricky weekend for Ferrari after the drivers struggled in the wet qualifying session. Helped by the McLaren disqualifications Charles Leclerc moved up from ninth on the grid to fourth, while Lewis Hamilton rose from 19th at the start to eighth. However the former World Champion was left frustrated by what was another disappointing performance.
Carlos Sainz had another good weekend for Williams, qualifying third and finishing fifth after the disqualifications. His team mate Alex Albon had a difficult race, sustaining damage at the start and then colliding with Hamilton. Hampered by a broken radio he then called it a day.
Quick from the start of the weekend, Isack Hadjar again did a good job to earn P6 in the final results for Racing Bulls, while team mate Liam Lawson finished out of the points after a first lap collision with Piastri led to an early pit stop.
Nico Hulkenberg employed a good strategy of starting on the hard tyre, running a long opening stint that got him up to seventh. His team mate Gabriel Bortoleto had another nightmare, ramming Lance Stroll at the start, and putting both men out of the race. Fernando Alonso finished out of the points in the other Aston after doing a great job to earn P7 in wet qualifying.
It was a low-key event for Haas by recent standards, with an initial 11th and 12th for Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman converted to points finishes for both after the McLarens were kicked out.
Off-track it was a relatively quiet weekend, with little in the way of gossip or news to digest. However, a 2026 Red Bull driver decision is set to come after the upcoming Qatar GP. With Hadjar lined up to join Verstappen at RBR, and Lawson tipped to stay at Racing Bulls with rookie Arvin Lindblad alongside there will be no place for Yuki Tsunoda, although the Japanese driver could potentially be retained in a reserve role.
