Lando Norris suffers blow to F1 title hopes after post-race drama in Las Vegas

Lando Norris’ bid to win the world championship has taken an extraordinary setback after he was disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Norris had finished runner-up to Max Verstappen in Sin City to put him 42 points clear of the Dutchman in the title race with just 58 to play for.

But Norris and team-mate Oscar Piastri were stripped of their respective second and fourth-placed finishes for running illegal cars after the rearmost skids underneath their McLarens were less than the 9mm minimum thickness required.

It means Norris will head to the penultimate round in Qatar – which includes a sprint race – next weekend guarding only a 24-point lead over Verstappen with the season finale to follow in Abu Dhabi on December 7. Piastri, who had been cast 30 points adrift at the chequered flag, is now also 24 points back.

Reacting to the disqualification in a McLaren statement, Norris said: “It’s frustrating to lose so many points.

“As a team, we’re always pushing to find as much performance as we can, and we clearly didn’t get that balance right today. Nothing I can do will change that now, instead full focus switches to Qatar, where we’ll aim to go out and deliver the best possible performance in every session.”

The stunning verdict from the stewards arrived at close to 02:00 local time – more than four hours after the race finished.

Team principal Andrea Stella added: “We apologise 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.

“While this outcome is extremely disappointing, we remain fully focused on the last two races of the season.”

George Russell moves up to second place, while his Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli, who finished fifth, takes third.

Confirming the disqualifications, the FIA said: “The rear skids of Car 4 (Norris) were measured and found to be below the minimum thickness of 9mm specified under Article 3.5.9 of the Technical Regulations. The relevant measurements were RHS Front 8.88mm, RHS Rear 8.93mm.

“The FIA argued that unfortunately there was no provision in the regulations or in precedent for any penalty other than the usual penalty (i.e. disqualification). The FIA noted that it strongly held the view that the breach was unintentional and that there was no deliberate attempt to circumvent the regulations.”

The early-morning drama following Saturday night’s race on the Strip dramatically alters the complexion of the championship.

Norris, 26, looked poised to have a golden opportunity to seal his maiden title in Qatar. Indeed he was asked in the post-race press conference if he was now daring to dream of a maiden world title. But he is now having to deal with a possible nightmare as Verstappen breathes down his neck.

The four-time world champion was 104 points off the title pace following the Dutch Grand Prix on the final day of August. However, he is now within a race victory of Norris at the summit of the standings. How different it all was a few hours earlier.

Norris had started on pole on Sin City but was third at the end of the first lap after he covered off Verstappen at the opening corner only to brake too late and run off the track.

He fought his way clear of Russell with 16 laps to go and crossed the line 20 seconds adrift of Verstappen, who led every lap.