The 2025 Formula 1 world championship has been shaken to its core after Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix — stripping McLaren of their 2nd and 4th-place finishes and sending the title fight into full chaos with only two rounds left
Post-race checks revealed that the rear skid blocks on both McLaren MCL39s were below the minimum 9mm thickness required under Article 3.5.9 of the Technical Regulations.
FIA technical delegates re-measured the components in the presence of McLaren representatives and confirmed the breach — with the second inspection showing skid wear even lower than the initial reading.
As a result, stewards had no choice but to disqualify both cars from the official results
McLaren argued that the breach was caused by unexpected porpoising in Vegas, disrupted running due to poor weather on Friday, and shortened practice sessions.
The FIA acknowledged that the infringement was not intentional, but stressed that the rules are absolute. Stewards dismissed the mitigating circumstances and upheld the disqualifications.
This marks McLaren as the latest high-profile team punished for skid block infractions this season, after similar DSQs for Lewis Hamilton (China) and Nico Hulkenberg (Bahrain).
The revised results have reshuffled the championship in dramatic fashion:
- Lando Norris: 390 points
- Max Verstappen: 366 points
- Oscar Piastri: 366 points
What was a comfortable lead for Norris is now a 24-point margin — with 58 points still available across the final two Grands Prix and one Sprint.
For Verstappen and Piastri, the title is suddenly back within reach.
Norris, who started on pole, fell to third at Turn 1 after running wide while defending Verstappen. He recovered to P2 but faded badly in the final laps after being instructed to lift and coast.
“I don’t know what the issues were. The team just told me there were some problems and they were telling me to back off.”
Those problems are now overshadowed by the disqualification.
Piastri was knocked to P7 after contact with Liam Lawson at Turn 1, then climbed back into contention thanks to smart strategy.
“First lap was eventful… A couple of mistakes after that didn’t help.
The team did a really good job getting our race back on track.”
He initially inherited P4 after Antonelli’s penalty — only to see the result erased hours later.
Credit Photo : McLaren
