McLaren double disqualification revives Verstappen's F1 hopes

LAS VEGAS:

Red Bull's Max Verstappen won the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Saturday and roared back into the Formula One title battle after the shock disqualification of McLaren's championship leader Lando Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri.

Norris, who started on pole and finished second, and fourth-placed Piastri were ruled out for technical reasons linked to the under-car skid planks hours after the race had ended and the podium champagne been sprayed.

The development left Britain's Norris 24 points clear of four-times world champion Verstappen and Australian Piastri, now tied on points, with two rounds to go in Qatar and Abu Dhabi and 58 points available.

Stewards had summoned both McLaren drivers after a post-race FIA inspection found the thickness of the plank assembly was below the permitted minimum.

George Russell, last year's winner of the floodlit race and like Norris making his 150th start, moved up to second with teammate Kimi Antonelli taking third.

Antonelli was fourth at the flag but had dropped to fifth after a five-second penalty was applied for a jumped start.

Norris, who finished 20.741 seconds behind Verstappen, can still secure his first title in Qatar next weekend but Verstappen is now within striking distance again and can sniff the chance of a fifth title in a row.

McLaren have already clinched the constructors' crown for the second year in a row.

McLaren's Lando Norris in action during the race. Photo: REUTERS

Quite a decent gap

"The car was working pretty well, much more to my liking," said Verstappen, ferried to the podium with Norris and Russell in a LEGO pink Cadillac convertible driven by actor Terry Crews as fireworks lit up the sky over the Strip.

"It was at the end quite a decent gap."

It was the 69th win of Verstappen's career and his sixth of the season, as well as his 125th podium and eighth in a row in the 150th grand prix of Red Bull's partnership with Honda.

Norris started on pole but lost the lead to Verstappen at the start, dropping to third when he ran wide at the first corner and opened the door for the Dutch driver and Russell.

He retook second from Russell on the 34th of 50 laps but then had to manage fuel to the finish.

"I let Max have a win," he joked. "I let him go, let him have a nice race. No, I just braked too late," he added, with an expletive on the live television feed that could also land the Briton in trouble with the governing FIA.

"It was not my best performance out there but when the guy wins by 20 seconds it's because he has just done a better job and they're a bit quicker."

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc moved up to fourth in the adjusted results with Williams' Carlos Sainz fifth. Isack Hadjar was sixth for Racing Bulls and Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton seventh and eighth.

Haas pair Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman were ninth and 10th.

Piastri dropped from fifth to seventh on the opening lap after contact with Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson, who plunged to last with a badly damaged car.

Verstappen was 20 seconds clear of the field by lap 23 and pitted at the halfway point, rejoining in the lead after Russell and Norris had switched already to the hard tyre.

Aston Martin's Lance Stroll was taken out by Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto as the Brazilian rookie dived aggressively into the first corner and ran out of road, with both retiring immediately.

Bortoleto was later handed a five place grid penalty for Qatar.

Alpine's Pierre Gasly was also a spinner at the start and the virtual safety car was triggered on the second lap for marshals to retrieve debris between turns one and four.

The VSC was deployed again on lap 16 for more debris on track after Williams' Alex Albon and Hamilton collided, with the latter racing from 19th and last on the grid to 13th on the opening lap.

Albon, whose team lost radio contact with the car from the start, was handed a five-second penalty for causing the collision and also reprimanded for a starting procedure infringement.