The stage is set for Max Verstappen to potentially steal the World Driver's Championship after a pair of Las Vegas Grand Prix disqualifications.
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The Red Bull driver scored the win late Saturday night with a dominant performance. He took the lead from championship leader Lando Norris in Turn 1 and then built up a 20-second lead before crossing the finish line. He captured his 69th career win in the process.
Norris coasted across the line in second place and appeared to maintain a healthy cushion over Verstappen in the championship battle, but issues arose for him and teammate Oscar Piastri.
Stewards examined both McLaren entries after the Grand Prix and found their cars did not meet the minimum of 9mm skid block thickness. The skid block is a rectangular plank fitted to the underside of the F1 cars. This failure resulted in disqualifications for the McLaren entries.
As a result, Verstappen and Piastri are in a tie for second with 366 points each. Norris only has a 24-point lead with two rounds remaining. Fifty-eight points are available as the F1 teams head to the Qatar Grand Prix and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to close out the season.
"A frustrating end to today," Norris said in a release from McLaren. "We had to do some managing towards the end of the race and now we know it was due to some issues on our car, which have unfortunately resulted in us being disqualified. It's frustrating to lose so many points.
"As a team, we're always pushing to find as much performance as we can, and we clearly didn't get that balance right today. Nothing I can do will change that now, instead full focus switches to Qatar, where we'll aim to go out and deliver the best possible performance in every session."
The battle between Verstappen, Norris, and Piastri will likely remain heated considering the history at these two circuits. Verstappen has won the last two Qatar Grands Prix, and he has won four of the last five Abu Dhabi Grands Prix. Although Norris won last season's finale at the Yas Marina Circuit.
