McLaren's Lando Norris, even with a runner-up finish in Saturday night's Las Vegas Grand Prix at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit, had all but locked up the 2025 Formula 1 world championship.
He exited the race sitting 30 points ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri, but perhaps more importantly given the current form of the drivers involved in the title fight, he was 42 points ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who dominated in Las Vegas and won the race.
With two Grands Prix, plus one sprint, remaining on the 2025 calendar, it would have been hard for either driver to pass Norris.
But hours after the race, Verstappen now finds himself in second place, 24 points behind Norris. He is tied with Piastri, who initially finished the race in fourth.
McLaren drivers disqualified in Las Vegas
Both McLaren drivers were disqualified from the 50-lap race around the 14-turn, 3.8-mile (6.116-kilometer) temporary street circuit in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Formula 1 rules state that thickness of the planks underneath both cars must be no less than 9mm. The planks underneath not one but both of McLaren's two cars were found to be below that thickness, prompting the disqualifications.
Because Piastri initially finished fourth, he actually picked up six points on Norris because the violation was caught, but his 12-point advantage over Verstappen, which was sitting at 104 points after the Dutch Grand Prix, is now completely gone.
All drivers who finished behind Norris and/or Piastri have moved up in the running order, prompting several other changes throughout both the driver and constructor standings.
Updated Formula 1 driver and constructor standings can be found here.
The Qatar Grand Prix is scheduled to take place on Sunday, November 30 at Lusail International Circuit. ESPN2 is set to provide live coverage beginning at 10:55 a.m. ET. The sprint is scheduled to take place at 9:00 a.m. ET the day before. Start a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss any of the action from the penultimate race weekend of the 2025 season!