Norris and Piastri disqualified, F1 title race heating up 🔥 | OneFootball

The McLarens did not pass the technical review after the 22nd race and lost all the points they had accumulated. The championship is heating up: Max Verstappen is now 24 points behind the Englishman, with 58 points still in play.

The initial buzz turned into a more solid rumor until it became an absolute shock in the final stretch of the 2025 Formula 1 season: Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, first and second in the tournament, were excluded from the Las Vegas GP after their McLarens failed the technical review by the International Automobile Federation.

While Mickey led the spectacular show of lights, music, and fireworks before the podium, the FIA's technical team, headed by Jo Bauer, began working on the car inspections. The focus was on McLaren. After the anthems, the champagne shower, and the press conference, Andrea Stella, the director of the Woking team, was preparing to give one of the classic interviews that follow the races when someone from the team approached him, told him the interviews had to be postponed, and urgently summoned him to the garage.

There, Jo Bauer awaited him, and later, Nikolas Tombazis, the FIA's single-seater director, arrived. The Woking team sealed the entrance to the garage with screens that prevented anyone from seeing what was happening inside. The initial rumor pointed only to Norris and a possible lack of fuel for the post-race analysis. Each car must finish the race with at least one liter of fuel to be inspected. In the final part of the race, the World Championship leader was asked over the radio to slow down to conserve fuel. This radio conversation was not broadcast on official TV, but the stewards did hear it.

At 11:30 PM in Las Vegas, 1 hour and 50 minutes after the race ended, the first official FIA document was released, announcing that both Norris's and Piastri's cars had failed the rear floor wear inspection. Neither of the two MCL39s met the minimum nine millimeters required by article 3.5.9 section E. The technical team submitted the report to the stewards, who three minutes later summoned the two drivers and McLaren representatives to testify at 11:45 PM.

Only the official confirmation of what was already expected remained: the exclusion. The precedent left no room for doubt. Lewis Hamilton was excluded from China after the floor did not meet the nine-millimeter rule (it measured 8.6 millimeters). At 1:42 AM local time, four hours after the race ended and after an unjustified and inexplicable delay (it was a measurement issue, not something to interpret), the official report arrived: both McLarens were out of the Las Vegas GP. Stella permanently canceled the media briefing, and the team only issued a statement.

And the championship took an absolutely unexpected turn. Max Verstappen's victory followed by Norris had left the gap at 42 points in favor of the Englishman, with 58 in play. Between them, Piastri was 30 points behind and far from being a serious contender. Lando had his first crown in the bag, but with the exclusion, everything changed.

Norris lost the 18 points for second place, and Piastri lost the 12 for fourth. Thus, the four-time Red Bull champion will arrive in Qatar next week, 24 points behind and tied with the Australian! Norris still has an advantage that would allow him to be champion by finishing third in the two remaining races and the Losail sprint. With that, he would celebrate even if Max won everything. But for Norris, leaving Las Vegas with the champion 24 points behind, when he had 42, could be a blow that revives the mental weaknesses that not long ago surfaced in him.

With the McLarens out, the Las Vegas podium was completed by the Mercedes, with George Russell in second place and Kimi Antonelli in third. The Silver Arrows took a huge step toward their goal of being runners-up in the Constructors' Championship. Additionally, Haas got both cars into the points zone, with Esteban Ocon in ninth place and Oliver Bearman in tenth.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.