Lando Norris was sensationally disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix for running an illegal car – blowing the world championship wide open.
The British driver thought he had enjoyed a good day despite finishing second to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in Sin City, only to be summoned to the stewards two hours after the race finished.
At gone midnight in the Nevada desert, the stewards’ decision came in – Norris was chucked out for having a ‘rearmost skid less than required thickness’. So was his McLaren team-mate, Oscar Piastri, for the same transgression.
It means Verstappen narrows his deficit to Norris to 24 points with 58 available in the two final rounds, in Qatar next weekend, where there will also be a sprint race, and Abu Dhabi the one after.
Lando Norris has been disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix
Max Verstappen is all smiles with his team as he celebrates his victory in Las Vegas
The stewards said: ‘Car 4 (Norris’s, as well as car 81, Piastri) is disqualified from the race classification. All other drivers move up in the classification.
‘The rear skids were measured and found to be below the minimum thickness of 9mm specified under Article 3.5.9 of the technical regulations. The relevant measurements were RHS Front 8.88mm, RHS Rear 8.93mm.’
The adjudication moved George Russell up from third to second place, with his Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli elevated from fifth to third.
