Both McLaren cars of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri look set to be disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix after they were referred to the stewards by the FIA.
It was Max Verstappen who was the star of the show on the Las Vegas strip, as he capitalised on Norris‘ error from pole position to take the lead at turn one.
Norris also lost out to Mercedes’ George Russell at the start, with the McLaren man going too deep into the first corner to try and defend the charging Verstappen.
The F1 championship leader managed to recover back to second, seemingly putting him within touching distance of his first driver’s title.
However, it seems the major drama from Las Vegas is coming after the chequered flag with both McLaren’s under investigation by the FIA.
This comes due to excessive skid block wear on both cars, which is the same offence that disqualified Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc in this season’s Chinese GP.
With Verstappen taking home maximum points it would mean he would be level with Piastri and just 24 points behind Norris with two races to go.
While the official decision is yet to be made, there is usually only one outcome with the FIA already confirming both Norris and Piastri’s cars to have failed the skid block test.
The official document from the FIA referring Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri for investigation (credit: FIA)
Why could McLaren be disqualified
Speaking on Sky Sports following the breaking news, F1 correspondent Craig Slater explained the technicalities of the decision.
He said: “There is a serious chance that Lando Norris and his title rival team mate Oscar Piastri could be disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix. I’ve just had a document from the FIA, and this relates to, well, it’s the skid block underneath the car that every Formula 1 car runs.
“They cannot wear by more than nine millimeters during the race.
“If they’re any less, a couple of millimeters under that, the width of this ID pass, for example, then that’s usually a slam-dunk disqualification,” he added.
