Verstappen wins in Vegas as both McLarens disqualified for technical breach

Verstappen wins in Vegas as both McLarens disqualified for technical breach: Analysis of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, brought to you by Bahrain International Circuit

It was all going reasonably to plan for Norris as he stepped up to the podium in Las Vegas to collect the second-place trophy. Whilst he didn’t win, his teammate and closest competitor Oscar Piastri was back in fourth and Verstappen had only clawed back five points with his win. He had what was on paper a fairly healthy lead in the championship, heading into the final two races.

Shortly after the race, however, it was noticed that the FIA scrutineering of the two McLaren cars was taking longer than expected. The paddock rumors started and whilst the other teams were busy packing up, official news came through that McLaren were under investigation for a technical breach. The measurement of the skid block under the car has a mandatory thickness of 9mm after the race has finished. Both cars were measured to be marginally under that thickness, in what in McLaren’s described in their mitigation as being due to high porposing (bouncing) which eroded the plates more than expected. Despite that, both drivers were disqualified, with the FIA confirming that there was no provision in the rules for anything other than a disqualification.

Whilst this all sounds very technical, its importance cannot be overstated. It’s not the first time a car has been disqualified for this – it happened to Lewis Hamilton this year in China – but rarely has such a decision resulted in such an impact to the season.

Coming into the race weekend with a healthy championship lead and just three races remaining, there was a thought that Norris could take a measured, low-risk approach to racing to protect that advantage. Qualifying, however, at the glitzy Las Vegas strip, showed he had no such thoughts as he fought through some of the most difficult conditions you will ever see for an F1 car, to deliver an impressive pole position. Consistent heavy rain meant that track conditions were treacherous. It’s a challenging street circuit at the best of times, but the combination of the volume of water, plus the fact that the surface is just a normal road laden with heavy traffic for the other 51 weeks of the year, meant that drivers were facing conditions that many had not experienced before. So extreme was the standing water that full wet tyres were the only option, which is pretty unusual in modern F1.

Norris threw caution to the wind and if you happened to watch an onboard camera of any of his quick laps, it looked terrifying. He held it together in the latter stages of the final qualifying session as the track was drying out, to post a time 0.3 seconds faster than Max Verstappen in second. Carlos Sainz in the Williams was an impressive third, followed by George Russell. As for Piastri, an unluckily timed yellow flag meant he could only start fifth, whilst his fellow antipodean Liam Lawson was sixth. Alonso and Hadjar completed the top eight.

As the Saturday night race time approached, the weather had improved and the race was set to be dry. A one stop strategy seemed to be the preferred option, although due to the wet running of the previous two days, there was not much data to verify that plan.

The race started in a typical dramatic style. Norris attempted to stop Verstappen taking him on the inside, braked too late and left a wide open hole for the Dutchman to take the lead. Russell followed suit to take second, whist further back Piastri found himself in seventh, after a near coming-together at turn one.