Well, well, well. What do we have here? Is that a championship fight that is now back on? The biggest storyline of the Las Vegas Grand Prix happened off the track.
On the track, Max Verstappen won the race at a canter after getting ahead of Lando Norris, who finished 2nd on the road, at the first corner after the McLaren ran wide defending his place. George Russell took the final step on the podium.
Off track, BOTH McLarens were disqualified from the race for excessive plank wear. A penalty that is impossible to argue against. The minimum thickness of the plank is 9mm. Both McLarens had planks that were at least 8.90mm thick. Quite the difference but the rules are the rules.
In a largely uneventful race, this news set Saturday night / Sunday morning alight, depending on where you were watching.
The race had action in the first 5 laps, with first-corner contact by multiple drivers triggering the virtual safety car. Once this went in, the race pretty much ran out in Quali order. Any changes we will get to in the driver ratings. Lets focus on the Championship for now.
With both McLarens disqualified, Verstappen has halved his deficit to Norris, and Piastri, ironically, didn’t lose ground in the championship for the first time since Baku.
The situation is clear. Norris leads both Verstappen and Piastri by 24 points, with 58 still remaining over the last two race weekends. If Norris outscores his rivals in Qatar, he is the World Champion. If he doesn’t, the championship goes to the finale in Abu Dhabi. Oh, the racing gods have been nice, or naughty, depending on where your allegiances lie.
This disqualification obviously makes Norris’ job a bit harder, but it is still very much in his hands. The biggest issue maybe that McLaren are forced to raise their ride height to ensure no more issues, which can cause the car to lose performance. Just ask Ferrari. This drop could easily put McLaren back into the pack, and provide Verstappen with an opportunity you know he will take.
It’s going to be a very nervy weekend, with any mistake now potentially season-ending. But before we go to Qatar, let’s rate the drivers for the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
1. Max Verstappen – 8.5
Once Max got ahead of Norris at the first corner, it felt inevitable that he would win the race. He built a 3 second lead within 10 laps and that is where it would stay until Norris had fuel issues (least of his problems) and that gap stretched to 18 seconds at the flag. The 3 seconds might as well have been 18 because Max looked very comfortable out front.
2. George Russell – 8.5
Just another very solid performance from Russell in Vegas. The Mercedes was expected to be quick after last year’s dominance but they couldn’t quite match those heights. Russell qualified 4th, got up to 2nd on the first lap and held off Norris until Lap 25 to finish 3rd on the road. This was obviously ungraded to 2nd post McLaren penalty.
3. Kimi Antonelli – 8.8
The biggest mover of the race! Kimi qualified in 13th place, got a 5-second penalty for jumping the start and still came 3rd, 7 seconds off his teammate. He showed phenomenal pace and great overtaking prowess to battle his way up the field. My driver of the day.
4. Charles Leclerc – 8.1
Another good mover on Sunday. A disappointing qualifying had Charles start in 9th but he was quickly making up places. He used the overcut to get ahead of Sainz but couldn’t overtake Piastri for the second time to get into 5th. It would of course not matter as he would jump up to 4th anyway.
5. Carlos Sainz – 8.1
Sainz pulled off a great performance in the wet qualifying to take 3rd, punching above the Williams’ weight. He wasn’t able to hold on as he was overtaken by faster cars, but he was still solidly ahead of the chasing pack. This all but secures Williams’ 5th place in the Championship.
6. Isack Hadjar – 7.7
Hadjar took advantage of his teammate locking up in turn 1 to gain two positions, and from there kept his finishing place despite being overtaken by Piastri and Leclerc once they got up to speed. He followed Sainz home for solid points.
7. Nico Hulkenberg – 7.9
A quietly great result for Nico. Qualified just outside the top 10 in 11th and drove well to get up to 9th before the McLaren DSQ. Sauber continue to catch Haas and Aston Martin and could definitely steal 7th in the Championship.
8. Lewis Hamilton – 4.2
Another nightmare for Lewis. As has been the form this season, he looks comfortable in practise but then performance just disappears on a Saturday and Sunday. He qualified last when setting a time for the first time in his career and looks out of sorts in his Ferrari during the race. He was able to get back up to 10th at the flag but mistakes halted his progress. He can’t wait for this year to finish and doesn’t look enthused about next year either.
9. Esteban Ocon – 7.6
Esteban finally outscored his teammate in Vegas. He went for a longer first stint that gave him an advantage to overtake his teammate to lead the team home. They didn’t quite make the points on the night but both got in post-race.
10. Ollie Bearman – 7.5
No more big points for Ollie this time around. The Haas’ lined up together on the grid and finished together. Still, more points for the young Brit.
11. Fernando Alonso – 6.5
Only two more races in this car for Fernando, and he can’t wait. He never really got close to the points and was fighting the middle tail end, if that’s even a thing.
12. Yuki Tsunoda – 2.5
Forgettable weekend for Yuki. Didn’t get far in qualifying, started in the pitlane after Red Bull changed his set up but didn’t do anything for him. I don’t think I even saw him in the race so your guess is as good as mine.
13. Pierre Gasly – 4.0
Another one we saw very little of on Sunday morning. Gasly couldn’t repeat his Vegas speed from the last 2 years. He was the last driver to finish on the lead lap, in an irrelevant no-man’s land.
14. Liam Lawson – 3.5
Liam caused his own issues in Vegas. He outbraked himself at the first corner, connected with Piastri and damaged his front wing in the process. He had to limp home as the wing got caught on his front right tyre, falling way back from the field. He wasn’t able to catch back up and ended a lap down.
15. Franco Colapinto – 2.5
Honestly, I have literally nothing to say about Franco. Let’s move on.
16. Alex Albon – 3.1
Alex retired on Lap 35 in Vegas, ending his misery. His radio wasn’t working from the off, he damaged his front wing trying to overtake Hamilton, got a 5-second penalty for his troubles and then had to retire the car. Crikey.
17. Gabriel Bortoleto – 2.2
Another one that went too deep in the first corner, not only ending his race but also Lance Stroll’s. Gabriel sent it down the inside, got on the dirty line and used Stroll as a break. Bortoleto limped around before retiring on Lap 2.
18. Lance Stroll – 5.0
For once, Lance crashed out of a race and it wasn’t his fault in the slightest. As above, Bortoleto outbraked himself and Lance was in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Game Over.
19. Lando Norris – 7.9
Despite going too deep defending from Verstappen at Turn 1 to lose the lead, it was all going pretty smoothly for Lando. He was due to extend his championship lead and effectively knock Verstappen out of the running. But the racing Gods intervened to make it much closer going into Qatar. It wasn’t a vintage performance for the McLaren but was able to recover past Russell, who overtook him on Lap 1 as well and showed good pace before having to drop back to save fuel late on.
20. Oscar Piastri – 7.2
Oscar continues to struggle compared to his teammate in the McLaren. He qualified 5th, lost a few spots at the start after getting hit by Lawson, but was making them back up as the race went on. He got 4th place on the road from Antonelli after the Italian served his 5 second penalty at the flag but he still lost ground to his teammate. Until the DSQs which ironically keep him in the title fight.
The Perfect Formula 