Verstappen Wins Historic F1 Las Vegas GP, Why Were McLaren's Norris and Piastri DQ'd?

The battle for the Formula One drivers' championship took a major twist in Sin City on Saturday night.

Max Verstappen is deadlocked with Oscar Piastri on 366 points following his win in the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

The four-time reigning champion's long-shot bid to overtake points leader Lando Norris received a boost after Norris and McLaren teammate Piastri were disqualified following a post-race check.

The skid wear on their cars was judged to be below the minimum threshold.

"The rear skids were re-measured in the presence of the Stewards and the three McLaren representatives, and those measurements confirmed that the skids did not comply with the regulations," the stewards' report said. "The relevant measurements were even lower than those measured originally by the Technical Delegate."

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella addressed the situation.

"We apologize 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," he said. "As a team, we also apologize 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."

Norris earned a place on the podium as a distant second behind Verstappen, while Piastri came in fourth. Those results were wiped from the record.

The immediate beneficiaries of the ruling were George Russell and Kimi Antonelli. Russell moved up into second and Antonelli retrospectively claimed a podium spot.

The full impact of McLaren's misfortune won't be known for a few weeks.

Based on the original finish, Verstappen needed to bridge a 42-point deficit to Norris in order to secure a fifth straight F1 championship.

With just two races remaining, that feat wasn't mathematically impossible but improbable all the same. Following Norris' disqualification, now 24 points stand between he and Mad Max.

Norris may hold off Verstappen by the time the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix wraps up on Dec. 7. Few thought the gap would even be this close, though, when Norris and Piastri were exchanging checkered flags across July and August.

The odds are still against Verstappen, but the pressure is mounting on Norris and McLaren to avoid a collapse of epic proportions.