Lando Norris, Piastri Disqualified As Max Verstappen Wins Las Vegas Grand Prix

 

Max Verstappen won the race as Norris trailed in second in Las Vegas, making it the Red Bull driver's eighth consecutive podium finish and his first victory since the United States Grand Prix in Texas. 

It was a lightly chaotic start in Las Vegas with a dry surface. Pole-setter Norris went wide after the start, allowing Verstappen to get on the inside lane to take the pole from him. Red Bull led the race to finish quickest in 1:21:08.429 seconds. 

McLaren later suffered a setback in the F1 driver standings as both drivers, Norris and Oscar Piastri, were disqualified from the race. The latter finished in fourth. Effectively. Mercedes' George Russell, who finished third, was promoted to second, and his teammate, Kimi Antonelli, was promoted to third. 

Norris and Piastri were disqualified for breaking the FIA regulation for having skid block widths less than 9mm. After the race, both drivers' skid block widths were found to be below the given standard, which makes the car lighter than necessary, allowing a driver an undue advantage. 

"I let Max have a win, let him go, let him have a nice...No, I braked too late. It was my f*** up," Norris reflected after the race.

While the McLaren team instructed Norris to chase down Verstappen after overtaking George Russell on DRS on Lap 34, his engineer noticed a mechanical issue with his car, increasing the gap between him and Verstappen by 13 seconds. The engine problem was later understood to be the brakes. 

Kimi Antonelli: five-minute penalty for jump-starting the grip. The Mercedes driver slightly moved his car before the green light went on. Despite the penalty, he improved to finish fifth and was promoted to third, following the disqualification of Norris and Piastri. 

Verstappen reignited the F1 Championship title race, tying on points with Piastri with 366 points apiece. He now trails Norris by 24 points with only two races remaining as the season draws to a close.