Las Vegas GP conclusions: McLaren blunder blows F1 title race open

Lando Norris looked to be in complete control of the F1 title race before post-race drama shook things up.

Here are five big things we learned from an dramatic weekend in Las Vegas.

McLaren disaster blows title race open

McLaren’s double disqualification has dramatically changed the complexities of the 2025 F1 world championship battle and brought Max Verstappen back into contention.

Norris and Oscar Piastri were thrown out of the race after finishing second and fourth because their MCL39s were found to have excessive skid-block wear.

McLaren’s screw-up is hugely costly and leaves the door wide open for Verstappen, who was looking at being 42 points behind Norris before the disqualifications. Now the Red Bull driver is just 24 points adrift with a maximum of 58 up for grabs across the remaining two rounds.

Norris remains the strong favourite given his buffer is the same as it was heading to Las Vegas. The Briton can still clinch his maiden world title in Qatar next weekend but his exclusion, coupled with Verstappen’s dominant victory, will leave McLaren sweating.

Verstappen still has Norris in his pocket

Norris undid his hard work in securing a sensational pole position by chucking away the lead of the race at Turn 1 by being overly aggressive against Verstappen.

Knowing an attack from Verstappen was likely, Norris moved to cut across his rival with an aggressive chop to defend the inside. While this was successful, Norris ended up on the least grippy part of the track and misjudged his braking point, resulting in him running wide at the first corner.

Verstappen seized his chance by muscling past Norris, who also lost a place to Mercedes’ George Russell.

If Norris was trying to prove a point to Verstappen, he messed up after being suckered into a race-losing move. It showed that Verstappen still has the upper hand over the Briton when it comes to wheel-to-wheel combat and mind games, with Norris seemingly wound up by how far behind Verstappen was on the approach to the grid.

Piastri can’t stop the rot

For much of the season, Piastri was considered the clear title favourite. But his championship challenge has dramatically faded and is threatening to go out with a whimper.

For the seventh consecutive race, Piastri lagged behind Norris. The Australian seems resigned to losing the title to his McLaren teammate and admitted to making “too many mistakes” in Las Vegas.

Ironically, despite scoring no points as a result of McLaren’s double DSQ, the situation has actually worked out better for Piastri than Norris. Piastri was staring at a 30-point deficit to Norris, but it is now back down to 24.

However, considering Piastri’s rotten run of form, it is incredibly hard to see him turning things around and bridging the gap in the final two races, especially if he is off the pace in Qatar, where he outperformed Norris last year.

Lewis Hamilton’s misery deepens

Lewis Hamilton’s miserable maiden season with Ferrari continued in Las Vegas as he endured a truly awful weekend.

The seven-time world champion qualified last on pure pace for the first time in his 17-year F1 career before recovering to 10th on the road (which became eighth).

Hamilton has had plenty of lows throughout a tough 2025 but it is hard to recall a time things have been this bleak. The 40-year-old Briton made some concerning remarks that suggests he could be starting to question his own performances, as well as Ferrari's. 

Hamilton is staring at the very real prospect of not only experiencing a winless season, but also the first campaign in which he fails to record a grand prix podium. He has just two races left to change that, but given Ferrari’s competitiveness, and his own struggles, it is difficult to see where that will come.

Alarming times indeed for Hamilton, who called his first year with Ferrari his “worst season ever and no matter how much I try, it keeps getting worse.”

Williams all but secure P5

Carlos Sainz showed his class with another brilliant performance as he maximised the potential of his Williams in Las Vegas.

The Spaniard followed up a stunning qualifying lap to finish best of the midfield runners in Sin City with a result that all but secures fifth place in the constructors’ championship for Williams.

Sainz scored 10 points after being elevated to fifth thanks to McLaren being thrown out of the race results, leaving the Grove-based team 31 points clear in P5 with just two races to go in 2025.