Max Verstappen stormed to victory in the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Saturday night, his second title in the race’s three-year history.
The big drama came in the hours after the podium celebration, as championship leader Lando Norris and his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri were disqualified. They had originally finished second and fourth, respectively.
Both of their cars failed post-race technical checks due to excessive skid block wear, resulting in the loss of all their points from the race. The controversy shakes up the competition for the season-long drivers’ championship with only two races remaining on the calendar.
final races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi in the coming weeks
Norris currently has 390 points, ahead of Piastri and Verstappen, who both have 366. There will be 58 points up for grabs in the final races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi in the coming weeks.
The disqualification also played havoc on bettors who had backed Norris to finish on the podium. It was a fortuitous announcement for those who bet on Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli, as he moved into third place after the fact.
