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Formula OneFormula One will head to the final two rounds with a three-driver fight for the 2025 title after post-race drama turned the championship upside down in Las Vegas. Both McLaren drivers, the two leaders in the standings, were disqualified from the results, gifting race winner Max Verstappen a 25-point swing towards the top. The decision will be devastating for Lando Norris, who could feasibly have become a champion next weekend in Qatar, but will now need to hope Red Bull's late-season surge doesn't carry Verstappen to a fifth crown.
Norris started the race from pole position, securing a P1 grid slot after a rainy Qualifying session in Nevada on Friday. However, his lead lasted just one corner. Norris swung across the track on the run to Turn 1 to chop off the P2-starting Verstappen, but braked too late and ran deep. Verstappen took to the inside of the left-hander to take a lead he would never give up en route to his 69th career victory.
Further frustration hit Norris on the run to Turn 5. Mercedes' George Russell had sped past the high-placed Carlos Sainz in the Williams to clinch P3 and went on the attack, too. A side-by-side run down the straight had Norris dropping back behind Russell to leave him in P3. The consolation for the Briton was that his teammate and championship challenger Piastri had an equally difficult opening tour.
Turn 1 saw collisions throughout the field. Liam Lawson had barged into Piastri at the opening corner as he struggled to slow his VCARB. Fortunately, it was wheel-to-wheel contact, leaving Piastri still in the race rather than retiring. The Australian might feel aggrieved that the move didn't result in a penalty for Lawson, despite it being quite similar to his contact with Kimi Antonelli a fortnight ago. Piastri received 10 seconds for that move in Brazil, hurting his title aspirations, with the unclear overtaking guidelines again proving inconsistent.
Another Turn 1 crash was much clearer, though. Gabriel Bortoleto's misjudged overtaking efforts ended both his and Lance Stroll's races. The Brazilian took to the inside and had far too much speed to make the corner. He smashed into the Aston Martin, which in turn hit Pierre Gasly. Bortoleto and Stroll soon retired, with Gasly continuing on.
The resulting Virtual Safety Car opened up an unconventional strategic option. Antonelli dived into the pits to switch from the Pirelli Softs to the white-walled Hard compound tyre. A creep forward ahead of the lights meant he had a five-second penalty himself. However, the extremely early pit stop allowed the Mercedes teenager to run in clear air after his disappointing P17 qualification. With tyre degradation being low, this allowed Antonelli to creep up the order as others stopped later on.
While the Verstappen-Russell-Norris leaders continued unchanged, the midfield saw plenty of action thanks to the topsy-turvy grid from a wet Qualifying. The out-of-place Ferraris enjoyed plenty of coverage, with Lewis Hamilton recovering from a disastrous back-row start, and Charles Leclerc surging through the pack from P9. Hamilton had gained six positions by navigating the Turn 1 carnage, while Leclerc made moves on Ollie Bearman, Piastri, and Isack Hadjar in quick succession.
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Hamilton, however, made a mistake under braking that allowed Alex Albon to close in on his tail. The Thai driver had struggled with no radio from lights out, and that soon proved problematic. Closing in speeds on Hamilton had him clip his front wing's endplate on the Ferrari's rear Pirelli, and he needed to pit. Williams didn't know there was any damage, though, and his tyre change necessitated a second trip to the pits to replace the front wing, demoting him to last place.
Although Hamilton continued undamaged, a second Virtual Safety Car followed to clear the debris on track. This slowdown helped Piastri close up on Hadjar and pass the Frenchman to reach P6 before he pitted. McLaren's early stop was in place to try and undercut Leclerc and the high-running Sainz. A race against the Spaniard at the pit exit got Piastri past the Williams, and he also bested Leclerc when the Ferrari stopped three laps later.
Changing tyres also helped the fortunes of the other McLaren further up the order. Norris' Hard Pirellis had him closing in on Russell for P2 and on the tail of his compatriot on Lap 34. A DRS pass soon had him into second place, but he didn't have the pace to contend for the lead. Verstappen's engineer told his driver that Norris was pushing, and the four-time champion upped his pace to stay out of striking range.
Piastri, by contrast, couldn't repeat that overtake on the sister Mercedes after Antonelli rose to P4 following his Lap 2 pit stop. Nursing the Pirelli rubber had the Italian ahead of Piastri and Leclerc, who couldn't pass by in a double-pronged attack. Smart driving from Antonelli belied his inexperience, and he negated the time penalty he carried by eking out the tyre life to open up a 5.2-second gap over Leclerc by the chequered flag, to only drop behind Piastri and lose one position.
That demotion, of course, was only temporary once the scrutineers had their say. Both Norris, who was instructed to lift and coast in his final laps, and Piastri's cars had too much plank wear. The sub-millimetre discrepancy could have huge consequences for the title race. Piastri is now on equal points with Verstappen, and the pair are 24 points away from Norris with 58 points remaining this season. F1 returns this weekend for the 2025 Qatar GP.
