A popular track that was only added to the circuit list two years ago amid drivers’ dissatisfaction just so happened to be the one that changed the tide in the 2025 Drivers’ Championship battle.
On Nov. 22, before the start of the race, the three title contenders for the championship battle had entered with noticeable point differences. Lando Norris had maintained his consistency by winning the previous two races in Brazil and Mexico, while his teammate and championship rival, Oscar Piastri, placed 5th both times. Max Verstappen shone on the podium with an impressive third place after a risky race in Mexico and an incredible performance in Brazil, where he drove from 19th to 3rd place. With these three championship contenders outperforming each other, the tension over who will finally grab the trophy rose as the season approached its finale.
During the formation lap, when drivers warm up their tires before the actual race, Norris—who had secured pole position and was comfortably starting in the front row—complained on the radio about Verstappen’s purposeful gap, which the McLaren driver said was not allowed. This led Norris at the start of the race to gamble on an aggressive move against the current reigning champion, but he braked too late and was forced wide off the track, allowing Verstappen to take the lead.
As if it weren’t bad enough for the 2025 championship leader, around Lap 45, Norris began to drop off in pace. What was originally a 3-second gap between him and Verstappen ended up dropping to 15.7 seconds. According to Uros Radovanovic of Planet F1, McLaren miscalculated the amount of fuel required for the race, forcing Norris to reduce his fuel consumption to cross the finish line within the legal limits set for the cars. Norris secured second place, though, had there been one more lap, George Russell might have overtaken him despite steering issues on his Mercedes. Verstappen won the race with a 20-second lead over his rival, while Piastri secured fourth place, the highest he had placed since the summer break.
What might have still been a comfortable finish for Norris was quickly disrupted when the FIA did their routine car inspections. On track, the McLaren cars were sparking as they turned—a usual sign that a car was underweight or did not meet requirements—and upon inspection, both McLaren cars were found to be in breach of skid block thickness regulations. Both cars’ rear skids were less than the required 9mm, resulting in disqualification.
With Verstappen winning the Las Vegas Grand Prix and both McLaren drivers disqualified, Piastri and Verstappen are now tied with 366 points each, while Norris still leads with 390 points. Only two races and a sprint race remain before the season concludes. Considering Verstappen’s Red Bull has been increasing its performance, the four-time world champion is eager to secure his fifth title. Norris retains the advantage of being in the lead if he can manage to outperform Verstappen in Qatar on Nov. 30th, but Verstappen’s well-known “mind games” could come into play. While Norris and Verstappen have much of the public’s attention, Piastri, who used to lead the championship himself, has an equal chance to beat his teammate.
Piastri, who once had a 104-point lead in the season, now barely holds onto second place with Verstappen tied in points. The sudden drop in performance has led to speculation online that McLaren chose to prioritize Norris over Piastri due to the latter only being part of the team for three years compared to his senior teammate. Pierre Gasly, Alpine’s driver, also commented on the situation, saying “[i]t’s inexplicable.”
“You can be dissatisfied with your team, but you can’t forget how to drive from one weekend to the next… I find that strange.”
Pierre Gasly to AFP on Nov. 21, 2025
Verstappen’s father, Jos, even made a statement on the issue, subtly hinting that McLaren is obviously prioritizing one driver over the other, despite their insistence on playing it fair and using “papaya rules” to let their drivers race freely.
Despite McLaren’s internal handling of the season, the disqualification primarily hurts Norris. Piastri can still fight back in the remaining races, but Norris must avoid repeating mistakes like turning wide as he did in Las Vegas. At the end of the day, both drivers chasing after their first championship have to face the four-time champion Verstappen. Many have said that Verstappen’s performance this year, despite racing against faster cars, is incredible; he won when you would think he wouldn’t. British F1 commentator David Croft perfectly summed up how the end of the season is looking as all eyes head towards the final race in Abu Dhabi with an analogy to Jurassic Park:
“[T]here’s your T. rex, ladies and gentlemen [in reference to Verstappen], and Lando and Oscar are in the Jeep.”