5 takeaways from Las Vegas F1 race: Disqualifications tighten standings

The third annual Las Vegas Grand Prix will be a memorable race on the 2025 Formula One calendar.

Much of the drama took place well after the race ended.

Nearly four hours after Max Verstappen took the checkered flag, McLaren drivers Lando Norris, who finished second, and Oscar Piastri, who took fourth, were disqualified.

The ruling had an effect on the finishing order for the race, but also a drastic impact on the drivers championship. Norris has 390 points and a 24-point lead over Verstappen and Piastri, who have 366 apiece, with two races left.

Here are five takeaways from the F1 race:

1. McLaren cars disqualified

Norris, who started on the pole, made an aggressive block on Verstappen on the standing start to the race, going into Turn 1. Norris missed the corner, went wide and lost the lead to Verstappen, who never gave it up.

It turns out that risky move wouldn’t have mattered. At 11:36 p.m., nearly two hours after the race ended, the FIA announced it was further inspecting Norris’ and Piastri’s cars.

Then, at 1:45 a.m. Sunday, the FIA announced that both cars had been disqualified because the thickness of the rearmost skid of their cars was less than the required thickness.

The FIA released a statement on X that read: “The thickness of the plank assembly was below the permitted minimum thickness.”

Norris was reduced to a 19th-place finish, and Piastri finished 20th.

2. Still alive for No. 5

Verstappen, the reigning four-time series champion, entered the weekend third in the drivers standings, 49 points behind Norris for the lead. Verstappen acknowledged that the championship was going to be a long shot.

But that has now changed. Verstappen is still alive to make a rally for a fifth straight title after he was 104 points behind Piastri after Verstappen won the Italian Grand Prix on Sept. 7.

There is a maximum of 60 points left in the final two races — 25 points for a race win, eight points for the winner of the Sprint race in Qatar on Saturday and a bonus point for running the fastest lap of each race.

“I’m very proud of everyone,” said Verstappen, who has six wins and 13 podiums in 2025. “We’ve had a really up-and-down season and tough times, but also really beautiful moments, and we learned a lot throughout the whole season. … We’re enjoying it now, and then we’ll see next week what we could do again.”

3. Mercedes on podium

Mercedes drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli benefited from the McLaren disqualifications. Russell, who won the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix, moved to second, and Antonelli went from fifth to third. It was a great drive for Antonelli, who started 17th.

The podium runs have helped Mercedes (431 points) hold a 40-point advantage over Red Bull (391) in second place in the constructors championship. McLaren clinched the constructors title Oct. 5.

Russell is in his first season as Mercedes’ lead driver after Lewis Hamilton left Mercedes after 12 years for Ferrari. Antonelli, 19, is in his first season in F1.

“We have a car that is more consistent over 24 races,” Russell said. “Our car last year was either exceptionally strong or exceptionally weak. The goal is to score as many points as possible, and we have a car this year that has given us a better opportunity to achieve that.”

4. Not a “showman”

Verstappen, by his own admission, isn’t much of a “showman.” But on Saturday, he let out some of his personality.

He high-fived Minnie Mouse before the race. After it, he wore a large pair of pink Lego sunglasses, sitting alongside Russell and Norris in the back of a pink car made entirely out of Legos and being driven by actor Terry Crews.

“I’m not really into that, but I get it,” Verstappen said. “It’s part of the calendar. If you’re in Vegas, it needs to be like this.”

Verstappen and other drivers were vocal about the extracurricular activities surrounding the first Las Vegas Grand Prix in 2023.

“It’s certainly better than it was a few years ago,” Norris said. “That was a bit too much for everyone. May as well be ‘Cirque du Soleil’ if we’re performing. We’re all much happier with what we’re doing now.”

Russell said the weekend was enjoyable, but his bigger concern was the long travel with a race in Qatar in eight days.

“It probably would be nicer if it was a stand-alone race rather than back-to-back,” he said. “But either way, at this time, if you’re going to do a night race in Vegas, whichever way you do it is going to be challenging.”

5. No rain on race day

The Las Vegas Grand Prix had never experienced rain. Until this year. Showers dampened the track for sessions Thursday and Friday, but there was no rain Saturday for the race.

A brief shower Thursday before the second practice kept drivers off the track for a few minutes. The practice was red-flagged and ended early because of reports of a loose manhole cover and “track maintenance.”

Then, a heavier shower Friday drenched the track for the first of two F1 Academy races and F1 qualifying. Teams used rain tires for the first and second rounds, but with the rain stopped, a dry racing line was formed and teams used regular racing slicks.

It was an unusual amount of rain for Las Vegas this time of the year, but Norris was still advocating for a race earlier in the season for warmer and possibly drier conditions.

“If it was a bit warmer, I think everyone would enjoy it a bit more, even the fans,” he said. “It’s not pleasant even for the fans sitting out there in the cold the whole day and in the rain.”

Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.