Red Bull and Max Verstappen win Las Vegas Grand Prix as title rivals disqualified

Red Bull took a victory in the Las Vegas Grand Prix through Max Verstappen, in a race that saw his title rivals both disqualified.

Verstappen had crossed the line first to take victory, having taken the lead at the start of the race to win the Saturday night fight in Las Vegas.

Initially, Lando Norris had finished second with Oscar Piastri fourth, in a result that would’ve seen Verstappen sit 42 points behind championship leader Norris with only 58 to play for from the final 2 races and sprint event.

But in a major twist, McLaren saw both Norris and Piastri’s cars disqualified following technical investigations after the race, with both McLaren cars found to have had damage to the under-car skid-blocks that exceeded the FIA limits. The result means that Norris scored 0 points rather than the 18 he would’ve received for his originally achieved second place.

As a result, Verstappen will now enter the final 2 rounds in Qatar and Abu Dhabi 24 points behind Norris, with 25 available for a win in the two full-length races. The Dutchman is also level on points with Piastri, having been over 100 points behind after Piastri won the Dutch Grand Prix in the first race after the summer break.

Verstappen’s teammate Yuki Tsunoda crossed the line 14th, then was reclassified 12th after the double McLaren disqualification. He is on 28 points and 17th in the standings.

In the Constructor’s Championship, the Milton Keynes-based Red Bull team are on 391 points in third position in the championship. They are 40 points behind second placed Mercedes and 13 clear of fourth place Ferrari.

Verstappen had begun the race second and he would make a move straight away. The Dutchman made a quicker start than pole sitter Norris, with the sequence seeing the McLaren initially retain the lead only to run wide at turn one, allowing Verstappen to take the lead and bring the Mercedes of George Russell with him.

Russell initially applied pressure on Verstappen, but the Red Bull driver duly began to pull away from the Mercedes the longer the stint went on.

Verstappen retained the lead after the pit-stops around halfway into the race, and with Russell struggling with a steering issue, he would lose track position to Norris.

The McLaren was encouraged to try and catch up with Verstappen, but he would ultimately not have the tyre life to do so, allowing Verstappen to take victory in the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Things would then take the further turn when it was announced a few hours after the race that the cars for both Norris and team-mate Piastri had failed technical investigations. The duo were later disqualified by the FIA, changing the balance of the race results and reducing Verstappen’s deficit to Norris in the championship.

As for Tsunoda, the Japanese driver had started from the pits with a new engine, then made an early pit stop during a virtual safety car in the opening stages. But he was unable to make his way up the order, leading to a finish outside the points.

The F1 season continues in its run towards the end of the campaign, with Las Vegas being the first in a triple header to end the 2025 season. The next race is the Qatar Grand Prix, which includes a sprint race, with the main race taking place next weekend.